As ties with Bangladesh erode, India cannot be strategically paralysed

Advertisement The swift erosion of India–Bangladesh relations was hardly surprising. India’s support of the Awami League’s authoritarian rule had turned many Bangladeshis against it. Still, New Delhi decided to go out of its way to back the interim government despite its flouting of human rights and democratic principles. In hindsight, this policy has imposed an enormous strategic and moral price. Much has already been said about the nature of the uprising — celebrated as a spontaneous, leaderless movement inspired by digital natives of a new generation who no longer need the mediation of formal organisations or established political machines. I…