Dhaka’s already strained relationship with New Delhi has come under fresh pressure after a Bangladeshi opposition leader threatened to shelter separatists targeting India’s sensitive northeast region in retaliation for what he claimed to be election interference.
Hasnat Abdullah, a leader of the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), warned at a rally in Dhaka on Monday that he would carry out the move if Bangladesh believed India was trying to influence its election in February.
“If Bangladesh is destabilised, the fire of resistance will spread beyond borders. Since you are housing those who destabilise us, we will give refuge to the separatists of seven sisters too,” Abdullah said, using a common reference for seven states in India’s northeast.
Advertisement
“I want to say clearly to India that if you shelter forces who do not respect Bangladesh’s sovereignty, potential, voting rights and human rights, Bangladesh will respond.”
His remarks were seen as particularly provocative in India because Delhi is sensitive about security in its northeast due to insurgencies, the region’s porous borders and its strategic location between Bangladesh, Myanmar and China.
Advertisement
Abdullah accused “vultures”, whom he did not name, of trying to exert control over Bangladesh despite the country having been independent for 54 years. He also called for resistance rallies on Victory Day on Tuesday, which marked the defeat of Pakistan’s military in Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971.