YEARS
The US is in the opposite camp when it comes to India’s interests in Bangladesh. It tried to prevent Bangladesh’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971 and then sided with political parties that were pro-Pakistan. It has always supported the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), during whose rule anti-India forces found Bangladesh a safe haven. The US worked for years to undermine the Awami League regime led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The US, a custodian of rights and democracy across the world, is completely silent on the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. This double standard was revealed by the omission of mention of atrocities against Bangladeshis and Hindus from the readout of the Modi-Biden talks. Why is the US refraining from criticising the situation in Bangladesh under the military-backed caretaker government led by Muhammad Yunus? Experts see India and the US, two strategic allies, as not being on the same page on the Bangladesh issue and suggest that India needs to keep this in mind going forward.
In fact, the US is in the opposite camp when it comes to India’s interests in Bangladesh. It tried to prevent Bangladesh’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971 and then sided with political parties that were pro-Pakistan. It has always supported the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), during whose rule anti-India forces found Bangladesh a safe haven. The US worked for years to undermine the Awami League regime led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The US tried to prevent the birth of Bangladesh. But even today, it is not in unison with India with regard to Bangladesh. It has welcomed the recent regime change there and has remained silent on ongoing human rights abuses, including attacks on minorities, arbitrary arrests, forced resignations and physical assaults on political prisoners, said geostrategist Brahma Chellaney. On August 26, US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned from a visit to war-torn Ukraine. The issues they discussed included the crisis in Ukraine and Bangladesh. While the Indian readout mentioned that PM Modi and Biden expressed their shared concern over the situation in Bangladesh, the White House readout was silent on the issue and focused only on the Ukraine-Russia war. According to India’s Foreign Ministry statement on the Modi-Biden talks, they (PM Modi and Biden) stressed on the restoration of law and order and ensuring the safety of minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh.
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