India was aware of anti-Hasina wave but could not interfere: Jaishankar

Summary:

• India knew anti-Hasina sentiment before protests forced Hasina to flee
• India lacked leverage to intervene, could only "advise" Hasina
• UN warned Bangladesh army: no violence, or peacekeeping bans follow
• Jaishankar: China in Bangladesh is "competitor, not adversary."
• SAARC's revival uncertain, India prefers BIMSTEC cooperation

India was aware of the rising wave of anti-Hasina sentiment prior to the student protests that eventually led to Hasina fleeing Bangladesh to India, says India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

He made these remarks while speaking to India's Consultative Committee on External Affairs on Saturday(22 March), says The Hindu.

He further told the committee that India lacked the needed leverage over Hasina to interfere, as Hasina who could only be "advised", he told Members of Parliament.

Jaishankar mentioned the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk's recent remarks about the UN warning the Bangladesh army against a confrontation with unarmed protesters during the anti-Hasina protests, that such a move would prompt the UN to ban the army from peacekeeping operations.

The Consultative Committee on External Affairs members met Jaishankar for a frank discussion on India's foreign policy where the circumstances in the neighbourhood — especially in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan — dominated.

Ties with Bangladesh

While the interim government in Bangladesh has initiated dialogue with India, the Delhi-Dhaka relationship has been fraught with tension in view of India providing asylum to Hasina.

India has engaged with the interim government by sending Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in December 2024, but the Ministry of External Affairs is tight-lipped on a possible formal meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit on April 2-4.

Professor Yunus, who has hosted a series of international dignitaries, is on track to visit China next, where the two countries are expected to sign multiple agreements, including ones on aviation links that will increase connectivity between Chittagong and Dhaka and Chinese destinations. Jaishankar highlighted the role of "external actors" in Bangladesh, and mentioned that China was "not an adversary but a competitor".

Possible SAARC revival

Jaishankar's interaction also covered the future of SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation), which has not met since November 2014. Islamabad was supposed to hold the 19th SAARC summit in November 2016 but the meeting could not take place as India cancelled its participation after a terror strike against its military installation in Uri on September 18, 2016. Since then, India has supported the cooperation at the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), raising questions about the scope of revival of the SAARC.

However, during the briefing, Jaishankar hinted that "SAARC is not off the table" and that the regional grouping has been "paused", indicating the possibility of a revival in future.

Indian MPs also raised the issue of China's rising footprint in India's immediate neighbourhood and sought an explanation on what India intended to do in the next decade to counter China's growing influence in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.