Post by : Rameen Ariff

Bangladesh’s interim chief Muhammad Yunus provoked a diplomatic controversy after presenting a book to Pakistani General Sahir Shamshad Mirza that displayed a map merging Assam and other northeastern Indian states into Bangladesh. The altered image spread quickly online, drawing sharp responses in India and prompting wider concern about regional stability and Yunus’s growing links with Pakistan and China.

The episode occurred during General Mirza’s visit to Dhaka, when Yunus presented him with a copy of Art of Triumph. Attention centred on the book’s cover, which portrayed a distorted map suggesting a "Greater Bangladesh" that incorporated parts of India’s northeast. The cover went viral on social media and prompted analysts to warn that the gesture was an inflammatory political signal amid a shift in Dhaka’s external alignments.

This is not the first time Yunus has touched on the northeast. Earlier this year, during a trip to China, he described Bangladesh as the "only guardian of the ocean" for India’s landlocked northeastern states, implying they might rely on Bangladesh — and, indirectly, China’s economic reach — for access. Indian officials said such comments have been unsettling, interpreting them as challenges to India’s sovereignty in that region.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not yet issued a formal statement, but reports suggest rising concern in New Delhi. Since Yunus became interim head in 2024 following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, diplomatic ties that were robust under Hasina — including trade and transit arrangements with India — appear to be cooling as Dhaka engages more visibly with Pakistan and China.

Experts caution that promoting notions akin to a "Greater Bangladesh" could unsettle an already delicate South Asian balance. While such ideas have largely been fringe in the past, continued references risk alienating India and increasing Dhaka’s diplomatic isolation, potentially drawing China, Pakistan and Bangladesh closer in a new strategic configuration.

Calls for clarification and accountability have grown louder. Indian analysts are seeking an immediate explanation from Dhaka and urging New Delhi to respond decisively. On social media the gesture has been widely condemned, described as provocative and an affront to India’s territorial integrity.

Whether the map was an inadvertent misstep or a deliberate signal, the episode has widened the trust gap between Dhaka and New Delhi. It underlines how symbolic acts can carry significant geopolitical weight in a region already marked by strategic sensitivity.

#Global