2026 | ২০২৬

After the recent elections in Bangladesh, it is good to see India reconsidering the stand it had taken during Muhammad Yunus’s rule. We may now be on the way to regaining our only steadfast friend in the neighbourhood, as the Indian establishment has swung out of its fixation with Hasina and accepted the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as India’s best bet. It took more than a year for our government to view the BNP with more kindness despite the party’s anti-India track record.

The public ecstasy at India swinging two big trade deals, the India-UK FTA and the recent deal with the European Union (EU), reveals more skills at event management than in ensuring immediate economic survival after US President Donald Trump’s tariff terror. Even as we hope, privately or otherwise, that we have survived Genghis Khan’s devastation of our dear, comfortable world of free and open trade, we really need to get real.

Sheikh Hasina’s downfall on 5 August 2024 was a chronicle foretold by all, except NewDelhi’s ‘state operators’ who continued with their domineering agenda. A hastily put togetherinterim government under Muhammad Yunus as ‘Chief Advisor’ worsened matters and a‘reign of terror’ followed in Bangladesh.