Has Muhammad Yunus destroyed the relationship between India and Bangladesh?

More than the bilateral relationship, Mohammad Yunus is destroying the economy of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh regime change of August 2024 started with boycott Indian goods which originated from rural madrasas (religious schools) where poor students study. It is easy to brainwash children from poor families as they are already frustrated and marginalised economically. The next level of anti-govt protests against elected govt of Shiekh Hasina came from college and university students and mainly from Dhaka University. The student protest ceased the city for days and weeks which forced security officials to fire at the students. The situation became direr and PM Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country. Surprisingly she didn’t went to a western country who claims to champion of human and refugee rights. She also didn’t went to any of the 56 Islamic country but went to India!

The govt change initiative in Bangladesh started with ‘boycott Indian products’ campaign

The Islamists ceased power but their front end remained student protestors as if this was a student revolution and not Islamist revolution. The reality was that it was an Islamist revolution because under the secular govt of Sheikh Hasina / Awami League, the Islamists were slowly becoming irrelevant. Hence they needed a coup and a government which is anti-India, pro-Islamist, pro-Pakistan and China. As soon as interim leader Mohammad Youns was para-dropped, he / his administration started making anti-India statements. Islamists threatened to cut-off Siliguri chicken neck corridor and published greater Bangladesh map to include Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Provocative slogans by the jeh@dis encouraged anti-Hindu riots across the country to epic level and Hindu teachers or govt officials were forced to resign or change religion.

This is nothing new as this is happening for centuries in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) where Buddhists and Hindus were converted or killed in large scale and made this territory 92% Muslim. Interim leader Mohammad Yunus told business houses in China that India’s north-east are is landlocked and Bangladesh is the guardian of the ocean. This is a provocative statement followed by more provocative actions. Adani Power’s payment was withheld forcing Adani to curtail power supply after repeated request for payment went unanswered. Bangladesh started trade with Pakistan and curtailed land trade with India, brought back Pakistani spy agency ISI inside Bangladesh with intention to harm India and supported Pakistan during Operation Sindoor military standoff in May 2025.

The Islamic brotherhood ideology will not help Bangladesh in building its economy

These Islamists and jeh@dis and Kanglus of Banhladesh forgot one thing – that Bangladesh economy was growing faster under a secular Sheikh Hasina leadership. Under her leadership, Bangladesh almost reached economic and social parameters parity with India. The Islamist leader Mohammad Yunus has only brought miseries to the people of Bangladesh. The only industry – the textile industry is suffering not just due law and order problem but also because of electricity shortage. Bangladesh can import machinery from China, bring funding under ‘Belt and Road’ scheme of China but they cannot bring electricity from China or Myanmar. Bangladesh’s only source of external electricity is from India as it is surrounded 80% by India.

Now Modi govt has started hitting back. Modi is a person who always hit back, sooner or later. Modi govt blocked Bangladesh’s trans-shipment facility to use Indian ports / airports for export to Europe. Now India blocked land trade for textile trade and fruits, fruit-flavoured and carbonated drinks, processed food items, wooden furniture, plastic, dyes, cotton and cotton yarn waste etc. Bangladesh will have to export only using Kolkata and Nhava Sheva port near Mumbai which will create an export bottleneck and logistics issue. Also, Nhava Sheva Mumbai port is far away from Bangladesh coast and Kolkata port is a river based port and hence small.

Effectively, this will be a big blow regarding exports to India. Bangladesh’s annual trade deficit with India is nearly $10 Billion. Lack of land trade will make it more difficult for Bangladesh. Another critical issue is Ganga water treaty which was signed in 1996 for thirty years. It will be reviewed and will be critical for agriculture of Bangladesh. Just like Pakistan realised that PM Modi is not Jawaharlal Nehru, Bangladesh govt can expect no generous Ganga Water Treaty from PM Modi. Boradly, Islamist Mohammad Yunus is becoming a problem for Bangladesh. There was a news sometime back they he was planning to escape to France but now it looks he will destroy Bangladesh economy before fleeing abroad.