A day after winning the national election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said it was looking forward to “engaging constructively” with India to advance the bilateral relationship.
“We look forward to engaging constructively with India to advance our multifaceted relationship, guided by mutual respect, sensitivity to each other’s concerns, and a shared commitment to peace, stability, and prosperity in our region,” the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said on social media.
The statement was in response to a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Tarique Rahman.
Rahman is expected to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister.
On Friday, the alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won 212 seats of the 299 constituencies that went to polls a day earlier. The rival alliance led by the Islamist organisation Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami emerged as the main Opposition party with 77 seats.
This was the first national election in Bangladesh since the Sheikh Hasina government was ousted in August 2024.
The election result on Friday “reflects the trust and confidence the people of Bangladesh have placed in our leadership and in the democratic process”, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said.
It added that Dhaka “remains committed to upholding democratic values, inclusivity and progressive development” for all its citizens.
On Friday, Modi said on social media that he had spoken with Rahman and congratulated him on his “remarkable victory” in the polls.
Modi said he had conveyed his best wishes and support in Rahman’s “endeavour to fulfil the aspirations” of Bangladeshis.
“As two close neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, I reaffirmed India’s continued commitment to the peace, progress and prosperity of both our peoples,” the Indian prime minister had said.
Humayun Kabir, Rahman’s foreign policy adviser, told WION on Saturday that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party will invite Modi for the swearing-in ceremony.
Responding to a social media post by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said on Saturday that India and Bangladesh’s “deep-rooted bonds of history, language and culture” form a “strong foundation for engagement even as we navigate evolving realities”.
On Friday, Kharge had congratulated Rahman and the BNP for winning the polls, and said that a “democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh would always be supported by all Indians for the stability and peace of our region”.
Read Scroll’s ground reports from Bangladesh here.
The relations between India and Bangladesh had seen periods of frostiness during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s previous government in Dhaka. The party was earlier widely viewed as having an anti-India stance.
On Friday, Modi was among the first global leaders to congratulate Rahman on the win.
Ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have been strained since Hasina fled to India in August 2024 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years.
After her ouster, Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government. After Thursday’s polls, the interim government’s term will come to an end.
Bangladesh has been demanding that India extradite Hasina after a tribunal in that country sentenced her to death for alleged crimes against humanity. Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal held Hasina guilty of having ordered a deadly crackdown on the protests against her government.
In December, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it was for Hasina to decide whether she wanted to return to Bangladesh.
Relations between India and Bangladesh further strained in recent months amid unrest following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Bin Hadi on December 18. Hadi had been a prominent figure in the 2024 protests that led to the ouster of the Hasina government.
His death triggered protests, vandalism and attacks in Bangladesh. Several attacks on minority communities had also been reported in Bangladesh, which led to demonstrations in India as well.
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