Bangladesh’s interim chief Muhammad Yunus has ignited a fresh diplomatic controversy after presenting a Pakistani general with artwork that allegedly depicted a distorted map showing India’s northeastern states, including Assam, as part of Bangladesh. The incident occurred during the visit of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, to Dhaka over the weekend, signaling a visible thaw in ties between the two nations. Historically, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have remained tense since the 1971 Liberation War, making this development particularly sensitive in regional geopolitics.
Yunus shared images of his meeting with the Pakistani general on social media, including one where he is seen gifting a book titled Art of Triumph to Mirza. The book’s cover, featuring a controversial map, quickly drew outrage in India and on digital platforms, where users and analysts accused Yunus of undermining India’s territorial integrity. The depiction of India’s seven northeastern states as part of Bangladeshi territory appears to align with radical calls for a “Greater Bangladesh,” a concept occasionally promoted by fringe Islamist groups.
While the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has yet to issue a formal response, diplomatic observers consider the incident a serious provocation. It also follows a broader pattern of Yunus making contentious remarks about India’s northeast since taking over the interim administration in August 2024. His assumption of power came after the ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government amid widespread student-led protests that rocked Bangladesh earlier in the year.
This is not the first time Yunus has made statements touching on India’s northeastern region. During his visit to China in April 2024, he referred to the northeastern states as “landlocked” and asserted that Bangladesh was the “only guardian of the ocean” for the region. He further encouraged Chinese officials to view Bangladesh as an “extension of the Chinese economy,” a statement widely interpreted as an attempt to invite deeper Chinese involvement in South Asia. The comments were met with sharp disapproval in India, where External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized the strategic and economic importance of the northeast, describing it as a key connectivity hub for the BIMSTEC alliance.
Following Yunus’s statements, India canceled a transshipment agreement that had allowed Bangladeshi goods to move through Indian territory en route to Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar, signaling deteriorating trust between New Delhi and Dhaka. Relations further soured after Yunus’s close associate, retired Major General Fazlur Rahman, suggested that Bangladesh should collaborate with China to “occupy” India’s northeastern states in the event of a conflict with Pakistan. Earlier, another aide, Nahidul Islam, had shared a map depicting parts of Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal as Bangladeshi territory, invoking widespread condemnation before hastily deleting the post.
Despite growing criticism and multiple diplomatic flare-ups, Yunus has remained publicly silent on these provocative claims. Analysts suggest his recurring references to India’s northeast may not be accidental but part of a calculated political strategy to realign Bangladesh’s foreign policy closer to China and Pakistan. The recent episode, involving the controversial artwork gifted to a Pakistani general, appears to reinforce this view, signaling an unsettling shift in Dhaka’s regional posture that could have long-term implications for South Asian stability and India-Bangladesh relations.
