Dhaka-Islamabad sea link: What will be the impact on India?

Last Updated on November 19, 2024 6:07 am

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 through a bloody nine-month long war. New Delhi was next to Dhaka then. Since then India has been termed as ‘Bandhurashtra’ in the last five decades. And the hostility was with Islamabad. However, fifty-three years after independence, the picture has completely changed.

India’s antagonism with the current interim government has increased by harboring Sheikh Hasina. Meanwhile, Dhaka has started a new relationship with Pakistan. Recently, a cargo ship of the country anchored at Chittagong port. The vessel from Karachi has successfully unloaded the container off the southeast coast of Bangladesh.

Direct sea connectivity between Pakistan and Bangladesh after many years will have an impact on India’s security.

Ships directly from Karachi to Chittagong

The 182 meter (597 ft) long Panamanian-flagged container ship Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan was sailing from Karachi, Pakistan to Chittagong, Bangladesh. Omar Farooq, the top official of Chittagong, said that the ship left the port after discharging the goods to Bangladesh on November 11.

The Chittagong Port Authority said the ship brought goods including raw materials and basic foodstuffs for Bangladesh’s main garment industry from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistani products did not come directly to Bangladesh like this before. Usually feeder ships came to Bangladesh via Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Singapore. However, in September Dr. Under the new interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh eased import restrictions on Pakistani goods.

The establishment of a direct sea link is seen as an attempt by the interim government of Bangladesh to establish strong ties with Pakistan.

In a post on Facebook, Syed Ahmed Maruf, Pakistan’s ambassador to Dhaka, wrote that the direct shipping route is a ‘big step’ in terms of increasing trade between the two countries.

Hasina and Pakistan

After the Liberation War in 1971, Pakistan and Bangladesh were divided. About 3 million Bengalis were killed in that war. Thousands of women were raped and tortured. These are deeply scarred in the national psyche of Bangladesh.

Keeping these memories in mind, Sheikh Hasina’s government asked East Pakistan i.e. present day Pakistan to apologize several times. But Pakistan never officially did so.

Bilateral relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have become bitter since the liberation war. Especially in Dhaka, it has been the most during the regime of Sheikh Hasina. whose central political agenda was to establish justice for the atrocities committed by Pakistan during the brutal war. He did it.

Hasina and India

Whenever Sheikh Hasina was in power, she took Bangladesh very close to India. He developed a close relationship with Bangladeshis in India, courtesy of New Delhi’s support in Bangladesh’s liberation war.

It is said that the Nehru-Gandhi family had a close personal relationship with the ousted former prime minister and his family.

His ties to New Delhi helped him flee to India on August 5 when student-led revolutions against his rule spread across the country. And after the fall of the dictator Hasina’s government, Bangladesh’s relationship with New Delhi deteriorated.

India’s ‘puppet’ Hasina

For years, Hasina has done politics by selling Bangladesh’s liberation war. It is reflected in this revolution. When Sheikh Hasina called the protesters ‘razakar’ in July, it backfired for her.

Apart from this, many Bangladeshis consider Hasina a puppet of India due to her ‘closeness’ with New Delhi. Dissatisfaction with India has arisen among Bangladeshis. According to a report by Indian Express, many people in Bangladesh feel that India has interfered too much in the country’s internal affairs.

Growing ‘anti-India’ sentiment in Bangladesh came to the fore when a mob vandalized and set fire to the Indira Gandhi Cultural Center (IGCC), the center of Indian cultural activity in the Bangladeshi capital for more than five decades, in August.

Pakistan-Bangladesh lenadena

After ousting Sheikh Hasina, Yunus’s interim government has moved towards closer ties with Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Dr. Yunus discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation on the sidelines of the United Nations General Session in September this year.

Calling for the creation of a ‘new chapter’ in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations to increase cooperation in various fields. Yunus recently said that sea connectivity is essential to revive our relationship.

The country’s attorney general urged to remove the words ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ from the constitution of Bangladesh. Asaduzzaman. The proposal has raised fears that the Muslim-majority country could turn to an Islamic state.

India is in trouble by sheltering Hasina

Bangladesh is also seeking the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, who is exiled to India. Dhaka has already issued an arrest warrant against the 77-year-old leader and summoned him to appear in court in Dhaka on charges of ‘genocide, murder and crimes against humanity’.

Mr. Yunus said his administration was focused on bringing to justice those responsible for suppressing the movement to oust Hasina.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yunus, 84, was appointed chief adviser to the government on August 9, days after Sheikh Hasina ended 15 years of iron-fisted rule. In his address to the nation on the occasion of the 100-day anniversary of the student-led revolution, Yunus said that he had spoken to Karim Khan, the chief counsel of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Addressing Sheikh Hasina, Yunus said, “We will demand the extradition of the ousted dictator from India.”

Earlier this month, Bangladesh said that they would request Interpol to issue a ‘red notice’ alert for fugitive leaders of Sheikh Hasina’s regime.

New Delhi insecurity

Growing ties between Islamabad and Dhaka could become a concern for India’s national security as trade with Pakistan increases.

Over the years, India has maintained good relations with Sheikh Hasina to monitor Chittagong port operations. Now Sheikh Hasina is not there. So worried India. India fears that the origin of ISI may increase in this area.

India has urged the interim government of Bangladesh to ensure peaceful religious ceremonies for the Hindu community in the South Asian country. According to a UN report, more than six hundred people, including Hindus, have been killed in violent protests in Bangladesh after the fall of the government led by Sheikh Hasina.