India plays its cards quietly in its backyard

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After nearly two years of strained relations, India and Bangladesh appear to be testing the waters for a reset. This is evidenced by a quiet intelligence visit, resumed fuel supplies, the reopening of some visa services, and renewed security cooperation.Taken together, these moves suggest that New Delhi and Dhaka may be inching toward rebuilding trust after a turbulent period that followed the political upheaval in Bangladesh in 2024.One of the most significant signals came through a visit that was never officially announced.Within weeks of the new government assuming office in Bangladesh, the country’s military intelligence chief, Major General Mohammad Kaiser Rashid Chowdhury, travelled quietly to New Delhi recently.According to sources cited by(March 9), Chowdhury met Parag Jain, chief of India’s external intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing, and Lieutenant General R.S. Raman, India’s Director General of Military Intelligence.The meeting was noteworthy for several reasons. It marked the first such high-level intelligence interaction since the political crisis that led to the ouster of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.noted that the visit helped reopen communication channels that had remained frozen for more than 18 months. The two sides also reached an understanding on ensuring that neither country’s territory is used by individuals whose activities could harm the other.The visit was officially described as being on “medical grounds,” but diplomats and security officials view it as a quiet step toward normalising ties.The diplomatic recalibration began after Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sworn in as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister on February 17 following elections earlier in the month.Soon after assuming office, Rahman reshuffled the top ranks of the armed forces. Chowdhury was appointed Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) on February 23 as part of that shake-up.Rahman’s government has retained Khalilur Rahman, the former National Security Adviser in the Bangladesh's interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, as Foreign Minister — a move seen by diplomats as a sign of continuity in Dhaka’s foreign policy approach.Even during the period of strained ties, Rahman and India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval reportedly stayed in contact, keeping communication channels open while political and economic ties deteriorated under the interim administration.While the intelligence meeting laid the groundwork, the first visible sign of warming ties appeared in the energy sector.India recently sent 5,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh as part of an ongoing energy trade arrangement, according to officials cited by. The shipment arrived as Bangladesh struggled with a fuel shortage triggered by supply disruptions linked to the ongoing West Asia conflict involving Iran, the US, and Israel.Chairman of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Muhammad Rezanur Rahman confirmed the delivery, saying, "We have an agreement with India, and according to that agreement, India will supply 180,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh via the pipeline each year. The 5,000 tonnes of diesel that is arriving now as part of that agreement."Under the commercial framework between the two countries, India is scheduled to supply 180,000 tonnes of diesel annually through the Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline, which links India’s Numaligarh Refinery in Assam with Bangladesh’s Parbatipur depot.Bangladesh officials have also sought additional supplies as the country grapples with fuel shortages.According to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation General Manager Md. Murshed Hossain Azad, Dhaka is planning to import another 40,000 tonnes of diesel from India."Recently, 5,000 tonnes of diesel arrived in Bangladesh from India, and we will receive another 5,000 tonnes around the 18th or 19th of March in Bangladesh from India," Azad said."We have received a proposal to import an additional 40,000 tonnes of diesel from India. Once the procedural work is completed — that is, the opening of the LC and other formalities — this 40,000 tonnes of diesel will also arrive in Bangladesh by April."The pipeline — inaugurated jointly in March 2023 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Sheikh Hasina — had seen supplies halted during the interim government led by Yunus. Deliveries resumed only after Rahman’s administration took office.Another sign of improving ties emerged in the visa regime between the two neighbours.Bangladesh recently resumed issuing tourist visas to Indian nationals after a temporary suspension linked to security concerns during the February 12 elections, according to officials from the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry quoted byTourist visas had been effectively halted between January 15 and February 15 as Dhaka prepared for the polls. Although urgent visas continued during that period, the broader tourist category had remained restricted.Meanwhile, Indian diplomats have indicated that New Delhi is also preparing to gradually restore full visa services in Bangladesh.Aniruddha Das, India’s senior consular official in Sylhet, told Bangladeshi media that the process had already begun.“Medical and double-entry visas are being issued now, and steps are under way to resume other categories, including travel visas,” Das said. “All types of Indian visa processing will return to normal soon.”He also emphasised the deeper historical ties between the two countries, saying, “India–Bangladesh relations are founded on mutual respect and honour.”Security cooperation has also resurfaced in an unexpected way.Earlier this month, the West Bengal Police Special Task Force arrested two Bangladeshi nationals — Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Hossain — in Bongaon near the India–Bangladesh border.The two men are accused in the killing of Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Hadi, who was shot during an election campaign in Dhaka on December 12, 2025, and later died in a Singapore hospital.According to West Bengal Police, the suspects had entered India illegally through the Meghalaya border before travelling across the country and eventually reaching Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district.Police said, "There was secret credible information that two Bangladeshi nationals, after committing serious crimes including extortion and murder in Bangladesh, had fled their country and illegally entered India, and were trying to take shelter in the border area of Bongaon with the intention of crossing back into Bangladesh when an opportunity arises."Following the arrests, the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata sought consular access to the suspects.The development carries political significance. Hadi was a prominent figure during the mass protests in July–August 2024 that eventually toppled the Hasina government. His death had triggered protests in Bangladesh, with some groups accusing India of sheltering the killers.The arrests could help defuse that narrative, officials say, by demonstrating cooperation between the two countries.India’s Ministry of External Affairs had earlier reiterated its position, stating: "India has never allowed its territory to be used for activities inimical to the interests of the friendly people of Bangladesh."The political engagement between the two governments has also begun to pick up.External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Tarique Rahman in Dhaka on December 31, 2025, and handed over a condolence message from New Delhi following the death of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Rahman’s mother.New Delhi later sent Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony, signalling India’s willingness to engage with the new government.At an Iftar gathering hosted by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka last week, India’s High Commissioner Pranay Verma spoke about the potential for renewed cooperation.“As two aspiring and forward-moving societies, India and Bangladesh stand at the cusp of a new future where they can offer to each other and to the region, shared prosperity by working together,” Verma said.He added that India supports a “democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive, and inclusive Bangladesh.”Despite the positive signals, several unresolved issues continue to cast a shadow over the relationship.India is currently hosting Sheikh Hasina, who was reportedly sentenced to death in absentia in Bangladesh for actions taken during the crackdown on student protests between June and August 2024.Bangladesh will also seek the repatriation of Masud and Hossain, the two suspects in the Hadi murder case.During the interim period, Yunus’s remarks in Beijing, describing India’s northeast as “landlocked” and Bangladesh as the “only guardian of the ocean,” stirred controversy, implying Bangladesh could facilitate access for China into eastern India.Also, concerns over the strategic vulnerability of India’s Siliguri Corridor — the so-called “Chicken’s Neck,” a 20–22 km-wide strip connecting the Northeast to the rest of the country — had sharpened during the interim administration's period.Shared rivers continue to pose additional challenges. A key test will come with negotiations over the 1996 India–Bangladesh Ganges Water Treaty, which is due to expire in December 2026.Fifty-four rivers cross the border, with Bangladesh citing insufficient dry-season flows and limited data transparency, while India points to climate variability and domestic requirements.The dispute over the Teesta river remains unresolved, partly due to political resistance within India. Without careful negotiation, water management could eclipse trade as the central irritant in the bilateral relationship.Trade between the two countries remains significant. Bilateral trade stood at $11.24 billion in FY25, down from a peak of $15.68 billion in FY22.Bangladesh’s exports to India rose to $1.77 billion from $1.57 billion, while imports stood at $9.44 billion, keeping a substantial trade surplus on India’s side.Such figures underscore the economic interdependence that Rahman hopes to leverage through his “economy-based” foreign policy.For now, the diplomatic thaw remains tentative.Officials on both sides appear keen to prevent issues from derailing the broader reset.Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior BNP leader and Bangladesh’s Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, was quoted by The Hindu as saying that ties between the two neighbours would not be held “captive” by the Hasina issue.A secret intelligence visit, fuel shipments through a cross-border pipeline, visas slowly returning and cooperation on security cases — each move is modest on its own. But together, they suggest a deliberate effort by New Delhi and Dhaka to step back from confrontation.If the momentum continues, the two neighbours may be entering the early phase of rebuilding a relationship that has long been central to stability in eastern South Asia.