Diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh have reached a critical juncture after Dhaka suspended visa and consular services at its missions in New Delhi and Agartala on December 22 following protests outside the facilities.
India has suspended visa services at its Chittagong visa application center in Bangladesh following widespread violent protests following the death of prominent Bangladeshi activist Sharif Osman Hadi.
The 32-year-old was a staunch critic of India and a key figure in the 2024 uprising that ended the 15-year autocratic rule of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hadi died on 18 December in a hospital in Singapore, where he was being treated after being shot in the head by a masked man riding on the back of a motorcycle in Dhaka a week earlier.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has described the shooting as a pre-planned attack by a powerful network aimed at derailing elections in February.
Messengers were called in a tit-for-tat move
Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old Hindu man, was beaten to death and publicly burnt on blasphemy charges in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, further escalating tensions between India and Bangladesh.
Several areas across India, including Kolkata and Hyderabad, saw protests by prominent Hindu groups demanding justice for Das. Many people held placards and banners with slogans like, “India will not tolerate atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh.”
New Delhi and Dhaka summoned each other’s envoys earlier this week and expressed concern over the situation, which has led to mutual suspension of visa services and tensions over minority protection and diplomatic security.
This visa freeze affects thousands of Bangladeshis seeking medical treatment in India, creating a humanitarian dimension.
India has strongly rejected Bangladesh’s attempt to equate the protests at its facilities in Dhaka with the protests outside Bangladeshi missions in India.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India is keeping a close eye on the evolving situation in Bangladesh. Our officials have been in touch with Bangladeshi authorities and have conveyed to them our strong concerns over attacks on minorities. We have also urged that the perpetrators of Das’s brutal murder be brought to justice.”
The visa suspension marks the biggest impact on ordinary citizens since tensions escalated. India was issuing around 1,500 visas per day to Bangladeshis, giving priority to medical and emergency visas.
The entire pipeline of patients is impacted, especially those who require new visas, follow-up appointments and emergency care.
But this is not the first time. Following the political unrest and Hasina’s ouster in August last year, Indian visa centers across the country were closed indefinitely due to security reasons.
‘Complex interdependence’
Experts and former diplomats stress that the diplomatic breakdown between the neighboring countries is serious given recent tensions.
“The visa ban is temporary, not permanent,” Sanjay Bhardwaj, a professor of South Asian studies at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW. He said it was “a tactical move rather than a strategic rift.”
He said, “India closed its Chittagong visa office after anti-India rhetoric threatened the safety of its staff. Bangladesh suspending visa operations in India is pure retaliation, designed to appease domestic constituencies.”
Bhardwaj said India and Bangladesh share a complex interdependence.
“Bangladesh cannot function without Indian cooperation – be it in trade, transit or connectivity,” he said.
“This visa standoff, though disruptive for ordinary citizens, does not automatically derail broader bilateral relations or commerce. Both sides understand the stakes. The halt hurts people, not the structural foundations of the relationship.”
Medical travel affected by the results
This latest confrontation builds on more than a year of thawing of ties, which have deteriorated sharply since Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power, with India expressing growing concern over the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, while Dhaka regards it as interference in its internal affairs.
“India’s visa suspension was a temporary security measure in response to concrete, credible threats against our missions and visa centres. Services have resumed everywhere except Chittagong, where the threat remains real,” Bangladesh’s former High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakraborty told DW.
Chakraborty also believes that Bangladesh’s reaction is just retaliation. “They are creating a false equivalence to claim that their missions in India face similar threats. This is a fabricated story for domestic consumption, not based on comparable security concerns,” he said.
Chakraborty said, “Yes, calling high commissioners to register concerns is standard diplomatic protocol. But there is a difference between legitimate security threats and political posturing.”
Sriradha Dutta, a Bangladesh expert at the Jindal School of International Affairs, said the current crisis will subside within a few days, but normal India-Bangladesh relations will not be restored until an elected government takes power in Dhaka.
“Fringe elements have hijacked the political narrative — it does not reflect majority Bangladeshi sentiments,” Dutta told DW.
Dutta said, “The interim government must prove that it can control domestic violence. What happened to Prothom Alo and the Daily Star newspapers exposes gross incompetence or bad intentions and that the authorities have shown little interest in improving relations with India.”
On December 18, mobs vandalized, looted and set fire to newspaper offices amid riots following the assassination of youth leader Hadi.
Dutta said, “The impasse is clear. Bangladesh’s caretaker administration lacks legitimacy and political will, while India waits for a reliable partner. Unless Dhaka signals genuine intention to normalize ties, New Delhi will not budge.”
Edited by: Keith Walker