The connection between India and Bangladesh hit a tough observe after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August final 12 months following anti-government protests.
She was sentenced to dying in absentia by a tribunal this 12 months for her alleged function in a lethal crackdown throughout the agitation.
Dhaka summoned Indian Excessive Commissioner Pranay Verma 5 occasions over varied points, whereas India summoned Bangladesh’s Excessive Commissioner Reaz Hamidullah as soon as to precise considerations over safety in Bangladesh.
The transition, from what was extensively thought to be an “India-friendly” Awami League authorities to Muhammad Yunus-led interim dispensation, considerably altered Bangladesh’s diplomatic posture.
Dhaka’s engagement with Islamabad to deepen ties additional sophisticated the regional equation.
World diplomatic vacuum
In accordance with consultants, Bangladesh’s disaster was worsened by a scarcity of curiosity from main international powers in participating with the Yunus-led interim authorities, leaving Dhaka diplomatically adrift.
Analysts labelled 2025 as a “lacking 12 months” for Bangladesh because of the absence of an elected authorities. Throughout this time, main embassies engaged extra with political events poised to type the following authorities slightly than with the interim administration.
Former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman advised PTI that Bangladesh went by means of 2025 “with no clear international coverage directive” and “no essential nation engaged Dhaka with any deep thought”.
He stated, against this, “regardless of indicators of softness and maturity on Delhi’s half to beat the hostility in bilateral ties, Dhaka didn’t take the initiative or benefit to enhance relations”.
“It (Dhaka) slightly confirmed an immature perspective, visibly to appease a home constituency,” he stated.
Pakistan issue emerges
Rahman, who had served because the deputy excessive commissioner in Islamabad, stated Pakistan pursued an energetic diplomacy with Bangladesh and Dhaka responded to it, “whether or not knowingly or unknowingly, the influence or the course it can result in”.
The South Asian nation, with a inhabitants of round 175 million, has allegedly seen a rising shift towards spiritual conservatism amid a chronic interval of political instability.
The closing months of 2025 witnessed the rise of anti-India forces, elevating considerations throughout the area.
Dhaka College worldwide relations professor Imtiaz Ahmed advised PTI that “state-complicity” performed an important function within the rise of anti-India forces.
Safety analyst and 1971 Liberation Conflict veteran Nasir Uddin stated the evolving scenario uncovered Bangladesh to a “harmful” geopolitical section, significantly in its ties with main regional and worldwide powers.
“India is repeatedly expressing its considerations, however these in energy in Bangladesh with none (electoral) mandate stay detached, very similar to the Pakistani rulers in 1971,” Uddin stated.
The violent, student-led agitation referred to as the July Rebellion, which ousted Hasina’s authorities in 2024, basically altered Bangladesh’s political panorama.
Nevertheless, analysts say, even over a 12 months after the upheaval, Bangladesh confirmed a bit of enchancment in stability, with political violence and financial disaster persevering with to plague the nation.
Election violence surge
Political violence has elevated after the Election Fee declared February 12, 2026, because the date for normal elections.
The killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a frontrunner of Inqilab Mancha identified for his anti-India rhetoric, on December 18 triggered nationwide protests and violence.
A number of days later, one other scholar chief, Motaleb Shikder, was shot within the head.
Rehman Sobhan, who taught Chief Adviser Yunus at Dhaka College greater than six many years in the past, criticised the interim authorities, saying its failure had pushed Bangladesh right into a “harmful section” the place election candidates had been changing into targets of violence.
The 12 months additionally reportedly noticed an increase in assaults on Hindus and Liberation Conflict veterans. Media organisations and shrines of Sufi saints had been additionally attacked.
Former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) Chairman Khaleda Zia’s crucial well being additionally remained within the information in 2025.
With the 80-year-old BNP chief on a ventilator, consideration more and more shifted to her son, Tarique Rahman, who returned from London forward of the polls after over 17 years in self-exile. Rahman’s arrival energised BNP supporters.
With the Awami League absent from the political scene, BNP has emerged because the principal political pressure, whereas Jamaat-e-Islami positioned itself as a key rival by forging alliances with different fringe teams. The Yunus-led authorities has banned the Awami League from contesting the elections.
Including a brand new dimension to the electoral enviornment was the emergence of a number of student-led political events, together with NCP and Inqilab Mancha, born out of protest actions.
Yunus was appointed head of the interim administration, backed by the College students Towards Discrimination (SAD) platform. In February, a serious offshoot of SAD launched the Nationwide Citizen Occasion (NCP).
Senior journalist Mozammel Hossain Manju stated the forces that ousted the earlier regime might themselves face decline, referring to the NCP.
On the financial entrance, Bangladesh grappled with slower development, excessive inflation, subdued funding and rising unemployment by means of 2025. Observers linked these challenges to political instability since 2024.
In December, Nationwide Board of Income Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan warned that Bangladesh has slipped right into a “debt entice”, with debt servicing changing into the second-largest finances expense and the tax-to-GDP ratio falling to round seven per cent from 10 per cent.
Yunus had promised to ascertain a corruption-free state; nonetheless, in current months, allegations of corruption throughout the interim administration have more and more surfaced in public discourse.
As 2025 attracts to an in depth, Bangladesh stands at a crucial juncture, grappling with political uncertainty, financial disaster and strained ties with its closest neighbour.
Revealed on December 29, 2025
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