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India brushes aside Yunus’s remarks on ties; calls for free, fair elections in B’desh
India dismissed Bangladesh's interim leader Yunus's comments on strained ties, urging free elections for a smooth democratic transition in Dhaka.
India on Friday brushed aside Bangladesh interim government chief Mohammed Yunus’s remarks blaming New Delhi for a downturn in relations and reiterated its call for Dhaka to hold free and fair elections to ensure a democratic transition.
Yunus had contended on Wednesday that India had refused to accept the student-led movement that resulted in the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina last year. He also said the hosting of Hasina by India had hit bilateral ties.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal didn’t directly respond to Yunus’s comments at a weekly media briefing but said the Indian side had clearly stated its position on Hasina’s presence in the country in the past.
Jaiswal also declined to comment on the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami sweeping university elections in Dhaka and said: “On the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in February 2026 in Bangladesh, we have repeatedly underlined our expectation of a smooth and peaceful democratic transition through free, fair, credible and inclusive elections in the country.”
India-Bangladesh relations nosedived after Hasina fled to India in August last year after her government collapsed following weeks of protests led by student groups. The two countries have repeatedly sparred after the caretaker administration led by Yunus assumed office, with New Delhi accusing Dhaka of not doing enough to prevent the oppression of minorities, especially Hindus.
The Bangladeshi side has dismissed the concerns expressed by India as exaggerated.
During an interaction at the Asia Society in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Yunus acknowledged that relations between the two countries were troubled.
“We have problems with India right now because of what the students have done. They are hosting Hasina, the former PM, who created all these problems and killed the young people, and that creates a lot of tension between India and Bangladesh,” he said.
Yunus contended there is a “lot of fake news” emanating from India that the elements in power in Bangladesh “are Islamists and that they are Taliban”.
Yunus has also raised the issue of reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), which has been moribund for almost a decade because of differences between India and Pakistan, with US officials. He also indicated Saarc could not make progress because of opposition from India.
Jaiswal responded to a question on Yunus’s remarks about Saarc by saying that India is committed to fostering regional connectivity and collaboration. Without naming Pakistan, Jaiswal said a particular country was holding up progress under Saarc.
The last Saarc Summit was hosted by Nepal in 2014, and the next meeting, which was to be held in Pakistan, was called off after India decided not to participate over a terror attack in Uri that was blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists. Following India’s decision, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan also pulled out of the summit.
