The political discourse on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in bordering states such as West Bengal during election campaigning has raised a few hackles in Dhaka’s political and foreign affairs circles. The issue gained a feverish pitch as the Bharatiya Janata Party made it a major issue to sway the voters' mood. Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, queered the pitch by promising to remove illegal immigrants not only from West Bengal and Assam but also from the entire country.
Initially, Dhaka summoned the Acting Indian High Commissioner to lodge a formal protest and express displeasure regarding disparaging remarks made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, which they said would harm bilateral ties, and urged restraint. Subsequently, after the announcement of election results came Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s predictable response that his country will take action in the event of “push-in” incidents following the change of guard in West Bengal. His colleague, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, chimed in to express hope that India would not resort to such actions after the BJP’s victory in the two bordering states. The Border Guard Bangladesh forces were asked to stay alert to such a possibility.
The Indian foreign ministry finally took cognisance of the issue and blamed its neighbour for not resolving over 2,860 cases of nationality verification which have been pending with Bangladesh for over five years, to justify the issue becoming a subject of political discourse in India. What is often perceived as loud, often unhinged, discordant noise coming from the BJP ecosystem was explained off with the official line that India’s policy is to repatriate all illegal foreign nationals in accordance with established laws, procedures, and bilateral mechanisms.
This issue of rising diplomatic tensions between the two nations should be a cause of concern for both as they could strain relations, which became somewhat fragile and unstable during Muhammed Yunus' reign, and attempts are now being made to mend them after the newly elected Bangladesh Nationalist Party government was sworn in in Dhaka.
India is within its rights to be worried about the porous border that enables infiltration, and it is legitimate for it to propose sealing the over 2,000-km border abutting West Bengal. Likewise, it is also fair for a sovereign country to identify and deport illegal immigrants and to weed them out from the electoral lists. But the issue is more often than not blown out of proportion for electoral purposes and worsened by the use of virulent and inappropriate language on such a sensitive issue.
New Delhi has also been watchful of Dhaka’s moves pertaining to the Teesta River and the latter’s attempts to draw China into the issue. Though for the record, the MEA spokesperson made all the right noises, saying that both countries share 54 rivers and have active structured bilateral mechanisms to discuss such issues, India is undoubtedly deeply concerned about possible Chinese involvement in the "Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project" in Bangladesh. India would want to avert the possibility of it being used as a strategic pressure point that New Delhi can ill-afford to ignore. Once the election din dies out, India would hopefully quietly try to allay Dhaka’s fears, focus on rapprochement, and focus on putting relations back on an even keel.