Analysis and commentary on Bangladesh's political economy, foreign policy, and strategic affairs.
For 15 years, India managed Bangladesh through Sheikh Hasina. That era is over. New Delhi must now choose between treating Bangladesh as an equal partner or accelerating its loss of influence in the region.
India's Northeast — the 'Seven Sisters' with 40 million people — is connected to the Indian mainland by only a 22 km strip of land. Dhaka holds the key to solving India's geographic nightmare, but Bangladesh has never leveraged this advantage. The post-August 2024 era demands strategic recalibration.
Major global powers have historically viewed Bangladesh not as an independent actor but through an 'India lens' — treating Dhaka as a subset of Delhi policy. This prism distorts how Washington, Tokyo, Moscow, and Brussels engage with a nation of 170 million, but post-August 2024 dynamics are forcing a recalibration.
The 2025 shift in US policy from treating Bangladesh as a subset of India policy to engaging Dhaka on its own terms represents a potential paradigm shift — but whether it survives the next administration remains uncertain.