Dhaka/New Delhi: In a move that could further dent New Delhi’s ties with Washington, US diplomats have allegedly signalled their willingness to engage with the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which is emerging a strong contender in the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh.
This move was reported by The Washington Post and is based on a recent interaction of an American diplomat in Dhaka with Bangladeshi journalists. During the interaction, the diplomat notes Bangladesh’s “Islamic shift”, and seeks to build bridges with Jamaat.
India Today reported that The Washington Post claims to have audio recordings in which the American diplomat based in Dhaka tells Bangladeshi journalists in a closed-door meeting on December 1, 2025, that Washington anticipated the Jamaat to outperform its past electoral results in the upcoming February 12 polls.
Any backing by the US would only strengthen the Jamaat that could emerge close behind the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in the election promised by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime next month. The Jamaat in Bangladesh is known to be pro-Pakistan and India would certainly not want its emergence as a strong front close to its eastern border.
The unnamed US diplomat allegedly describes Bangladesh as having “shifted Islamic” and says that the US wanted Jamaat leaders to be “friends”, encouraging journalists to bring members of the party’s influential student wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, onto their television programmes.
While the US embassy in Dhaka maintained that the country didn’t favour any particular political party and the interaction was a “routine, off-the-record” exchange, it is clear that the Jamaat – a fundamentalist Islamic party with a history of being repeatedly banned – has become too politically significant of a force for Washington to ignore.
A December opinion poll by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a US-linked think tank, showed the Jamaat competing closely with the BNP, with at least 53% respondents “liking” it.
The US diplomat apparently downplayed concerns that the Jamaat would impose Islamic law if it entered government, arguing Washington retained decisive economic leverage. Any moves perceived as undermining socially liberal norms, the official warned, would prompt immediate punitive action, including tariffs targeting Bangladesh’s garment industry, which accounts for roughly 20% of exports to the US.
“We would have 100% tariffs put on them the next day,” the diplomat was quoted as saying. “If Bangladesh tells women they can only work five hours, or kicks them out and imposes sharia law, there will be no more orders. And if there are no more orders, there will be no Bangladeshi economy,” the diplomat added.
This discussion has been described by US embassy spokesperson Monica Shie as a “routine, off-the-record” exchange with journalists.
India has historically viewed Jamaat-e-Islami with deep suspicion due to its opposition to Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and its perceived ideological and political links with Pakistan. The Jamaat is also known to have played a key role in the coup against former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her subsequent ouster in August 2024.
