New Delhi: Following an earlier statement labelling India’s Northeast as isolated and “landlocked” in his investment pitch to China, Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus appears to have now changed tack—calling for a unified cross-border economic integration plan involving Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and the ‘Seven Sisters’ states in India.
He made the comments Monday during a meeting with Indira Rana, Deputy Speaker of Nepal’s House of Representatives, currently in Dhaka to attend an event hosted by the Embassy of Nepal. “There should be an integrated economic plan for Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Seven Sisters. We have more to gain together than apart,” Yunus was quoted as saying. This marks a notable shift from his earlier remarks in March during a visit to Beijing, where he described India’s Northeast as “landlocked”.
“We are the only guardian of the ocean,” he had said at the time, inviting Chinese investment to Bangladesh, pitching it as a gateway to the region. He went further, suggesting that this geographical placement offered a “huge possibility” for China and also asserted that the region could become “an extension of the Chinese economy”.
“From Bangladesh, you can go anywhere you want. The ocean is our backyard,” Yunus declared.
Now, the chief adviser to the interim government in Dhaka is positioning the same geographical region as a potential corridor of shared prosperity, rooted in mutual interests and resource sharing.
He further hailed the Bangladesh-Nepal-India Tripartite Power Sales Agreement, signed in October last year, as a promising model for deeper energy integration. The agreement enables the transfer of 40 MW of Nepalese hydropower to Bangladesh via India.
His earlier remarks on the Northeast had drawn sharp criticism in India, given their geopolitical implications. India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar, responded by reaffirming the strategic importance of the Northeast within regional frameworks, calling it a connectivity hub for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)—a grouping that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Moreover, his remarks triggered outrage among Indian political leaders, particularly in the Northeast.
Following this, in what was seen as a direct rebuke, India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) canceled a 2020 transshipment agreement that allowed Bangladeshi goods to move through Indian territory en route to Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
“The transshipment facility extended to Bangladesh had over a period of time resulted in significant congestion at our airports and ports. Logistical delays and higher costs were hindering our own exports and creating backlogs” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, had said at the time.
Further, at the BIMSTEC Summit held in Bangkok in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Yunus with only a brief handshake and used the summit to reinforce that India’s Northeast is not a peripheral outpost but a central player in BIMSTEC’s future.
Tensions escalated further following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, when ThePrint reported controversial comments by retired Bangladeshi Major General A.L.M. Fazlur Rahman. Rahman in a Facebook post suggested that in the event of a war between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh should seize the opportunity to capture India’s Northeast with Chinese support.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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