India has made its position clear to the United States regarding the Bangladesh elections. India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohon Kwatra said Bangladesh was discussed in detail at the "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers between India and the United States in Delhi on Friday.
The Foreign Secretary said, India strongly supports the vision of Bangladesh as a stable, peaceful and progressive state as the people of that country want to see. He said that the election of Bangladesh is an internal matter of the country and the people of that country will decide their future.
After the meeting, in a special press conference on Friday (November 10) afternoon, India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, "We have made our view on Bangladesh very clear. We have no place to comment on the policies of any third country. Election of Bangladesh is their internal matter. The people of that country will decide their own future.
He mentioned, 'We respect the democratic process of Bangladesh as a friend and partner country. India strongly supports the vision of the people of Bangladesh as a stable, peaceful and progressive state.
However, no statement or press conference was made by the United States till Friday evening after the 'Two Plus Two' meeting. India's analysts are explaining that the message that India gave to the United States in Friday's meeting is that America should not put too much pressure on Bangladesh elections.
Major General (retd) PK Chakraborty, senior fellow at Delhi's Center for Land Warfare Studies, told Barta24.com, "To be honest, whatever government is in power here in India, Sheikh Hasina is the best option for us. Whole India Will Say That...but America seems to see it differently. We have invited Sheikh Hasina as a special guest at the G20. Why was she brought to the G20? Bangladesh is not a part of G20. We want to say, publicly declare, Sheikh Hasina is very special for us.. There is nothing better than Awami League for India.
General Chakraborty said, 'Frankly speaking, we do not want BNP-Jamaat..because they are pro-radicalism..Bangladesh is very important to India. If you want development, you want peace...you can't want radicalism. You see the achievements of our bilateral relations; we were able to settle the border. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka is issuing 15,000 visas every day. How deep is the people-to-people contact...'
Rick Rosso, an expert at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the media that regional issues in South Asia will have more influence on India-US strategic relations. He told Reuters news agency, "What is happening in Bangladesh or Sri Lanka is more important in India-US relations than the war in Gaza or Ukraine!"