India - Bangladesh: The Hasina Wazed Tangle
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS

Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina Wazed was ousted in August, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in December. In Syria, Assad was overthrown. Wazed escaped to India, Assad to Russia.
But from India’s perspective, writes Charu Sudan Kasturi (journalist who writes on foreign policy and international relations) “New Delhi appears to be struggling far more than Moscow in securing its interests after the setback of losing a friend in power.”
This month, Bangladesh sent a diplomatic note to India asking New Delhi to hand Wazed over to Dhaka. "At a time when anti-India sentiments dominate Bangladesh, Narendra Modi’s government finds itself in a difficult spot.”
But in fact, “no one — not even Bangladesh’s interim government — expects India to give Wazed up. But India needs to avoid letting Wazed's presence in the country shape New Delhi’s relations with Dhaka….”
India should find another place for Wazeed: Kasturi suggests New Delhi should formally granted asylum to Wazed, and help “find another country where she could safely stay in the long term. It should avoid provocations that seek to frame its relationship with Bangladesh through the lens of Wazed….”