2024-08-05 20:18:37
New Delhi: There has been a coup in Bangladesh and Sheikh Hasina has come to India. Now the suspense remains about where she will go after this. On the rapidly changing situation in Bangladesh, former Foreign Secretary of India and former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that foreign forces may be behind the protests against Sheikh Hasina. He further said that it is in India’s interest to restore peace in Dhaka. India will work closely with any government that comes to power in Bangladesh. The people-to-people relations between the two countries are very strong. Economic factors and opportunistic forces are responsible for the current political crisis in Bangladesh. He said that it may seem that this crisis has arisen due to the protests of the students, but mainly it is an economic crisis that has been brewing since COVID-19.
The economic crisis was developing since Corona
Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that on the surface it seems that this is a quota issue raised by the students, but there are many economic reasons behind it. COVID-19 has hit Bangladesh’s economy very badly. The Ukraine war has led to a sharp increase in the prices of essential commodities like fuel, food and fertilizers, which Bangladesh imports. Their balance of payments situation has worsened. Inflation has risen from 17% to 20%. All this has now reached a situation where people, especially the youth, are expressing their frustration on the streets.
Should India be worried?
Talking about opportunists, he said that the opportunists, whether it is the opposition BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami, which is a radical, pro-Pakistan Islamist group and is very active on the streets, have joined the protests and they have brought violence into it. You cannot deny the involvement of foreign forces that are against the interests of Bangladesh and frankly, our security interests as well. You cannot deny the fact that some forces are fishing in troubled waters.
Asked if India should be concerned, former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, “We should be concerned because instability in Bangladesh is not in India’s interest. It affects our security. It affects illegal migration with us. It affects smuggling on our borders. So, it is in our interest that Bangladesh has a stable and friendly government.”