New Delhi/Dhaka: In what is being considered a strategic outreach, New Delhi, on Tuesday, reached out to the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeMB) that won 68 seats in the recently conducted general elections in the neighbouring country, emerging as the principal Opposition party.
The JeMB, known to have sided with Pakistan during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, was hostile towards India till recently.
Ahead of the elections though, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman changed tack and struck a cautious note, saying that his party had always wanted good relations between Bangladesh and India.
A large number of seats won by the JeMB are close to the country’s border with the Indian state of West Bengal and this has not gone unnoticed in New Delhi. Under the circumstances, India wants to keep a line of communication open with the party.
Hence, even as Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla attended the swearing-in ceremony of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tarique Rahman as the prime minister of Bangladesh, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had a courtesy meeting with Rahman.
Misri conveyed greetings to Rahman on his new role and reaffirmed India’s enduring support to Bangladesh, underscoring the people-centric nature of the ties. Rahman highlighted the deep civilisational bonds shared by India and Bangladesh and expressed hope for stronger bilateral relations, India’s diplomatic mission in Dhaka wrote on X after the meeting, as reported by Deccan Herald.
The JeMB had often criticised former Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, for allegedly undermining the sovereignty of the country in order to maintain good relations with India. The outfit is known to have participated in the uprising that led to the ouster of Hasina in August 2024.
Later, JeMB leaders criticised New Delhi for allowing Hasina to stay in India. Even Rahman had said that Bangladesh wanted the relationship with India to be guided by mutual respect.
Birla, meanwhile, met Tarique Rahman soon after the swearing-in ceremony in Dhaka, congratulated him and handed over to him a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The latter is known to have invited the new Bangladesh PM to visit New Delhi at his earliest convenience.
