"India's Bangladesh policy must shift from party-centric to people-centric engagement." Discuss this in light of recent political changes in Dhaka.

For decades, India's ties with Bangladesh were seen mainly through its closeness to the Awami League. Then the BNP won the February 2026 election and Tarique Rahman was sworn in as Prime Minister [1]. This makes it necessary, and overdue, for India to move to people-centric engagement built on shared interests rather than on one party.

Recent political changes in Dhaka

• Regime change: Sheikh Hasina's government fell, and she has been in India since 5 August 2024 [2].
• Accountability push: A UN fact-finding report estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the 2024 crackdown [3]. A Dhaka tribunal later sentenced Hasina to death in absentia [4].
• Extradition pressure: Dhaka's request for her return is still pending. The MEA says it is being examined under judicial and internal legal processes [2][5].

Why party-centric engagement became a liability

• Seen as partisan: In Dhaka, India's shelter to Hasina looks like India backing one party, and this feeds anti-India sentiment.
• Lost leverage: Relying on one partner left India with few channels to the BNP and to civil society after 2024.
• Strategic cost: Weaker ties give extra-regional powers more room in the Bay of Bengal.

What people-centric engagement looks like

• Quick outreach to the elected government: The Lok Sabha Speaker attended the swearing-in and carried the Prime Minister's invitation to visit India [1].
• Distance from exile politics: The MEA has said Hasina's remarks are made in her individual capacity and that India has no role in them [6].
• Benefits for citizens: Trade, power, connectivity and the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement help people whichever party governs [7].

Challenges

• The Hasina dilemma: The 2013 Extradition Treaty [8] has to be weighed against humanitarian concerns. The UN opposes the death penalty and has said fair-trial standards are especially vital in an in-absentia trial [4].
• Long-standing irritants: Teesta water-sharing and border management.

Way forward

• Keep the extradition request in the legal process and seek assurances on a fair trial and against the death penalty.
• Continue to shelter Hasina but restrict her political activity from Indian soil.
• Expand people-to-people links: visas, healthcare, education and culture.

India–Bangladesh ties have outlasted many governments in Dhaka because they rest on geography, history and economics. India should engage every elected government, keep the Hasina question within legal and humanitarian norms, and deliver real benefits to citizens. That would turn Neighbourhood First into a partnership between peoples, true to the spirit of 1971.