Bangladesh’s interim head Muhammad Yunus has sparked a major diplomatic controversy after presenting a Pakistani general with a book depicting a distorted map that shows India’s northeastern states as part of Bangladesh. The incident has reignited tensions between Dhaka and New Delhi, already strained since Yunus took charge following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in 2024.
Controversial gift to Pakistani general
The controversy erupted after Yunus shared images on social media of his meeting with Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, who visited Dhaka over the weekend. In one of the photos, Yunus is seen gifting Mirza a book titled Art of Triumph, whose cover carries a map portraying India’s seven northeastern states — Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh — as part of Bangladesh.
The image quickly went viral, drawing sharp criticism from analysts and citizens across India and Bangladesh. Many accused Yunus of promoting a “Greater Bangladesh” narrative, which has long been championed by radical Islamist groups in the region.
Backlash and diplomatic unease
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has yet to issue an official response. However, senior Indian journalists and foreign policy commentators condemned the depiction as a direct affront to India’s territorial integrity. Observers in Dhaka said the incident risks deepening the chill between the two neighbours, whose ties have deteriorated significantly under Yunus’s interim administration.
The meeting between Yunus and General Mirza also underscores a visible thaw in Dhaka-Islamabad relations since August 2024, when Yunus assumed power after violent student-led protests toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
Yunus’s repeated references to India’s northeast
This is not the first time the Nobel laureate has made controversial remarks involving India’s northeastern region. During his official visit to China in April 2025, Yunus told Chinese officials that Bangladesh was the “only guardian of the ocean” for India’s northeastern states, which he described as “landlocked.”
“The seven states of India, the eastern part of India… they are a landlocked country. They have no way to reach out to the ocean,” Yunus had said. He added that this geographical position offered China “a huge opportunity” to expand its influence through Bangladesh.
The remarks were widely criticised in New Delhi, prompting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to reaffirm that India’s northeast was a “strategic and economic hub” crucial to regional connectivity under the BIMSTEC framework.
India’s diplomatic response and growing mistrust
Following Yunus’s earlier comments, India suspended a transhipment agreement that allowed Bangladeshi goods to move through Indian territory to Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar. The cancellation marked one of the sharpest downturns in bilateral cooperation since the early 2000s.
Tensions flared again in May when Yunus’s aide, Major General (retd) Fazlur Rahman, suggested that Bangladesh should “collaborate with China to occupy India’s northeast” if India attacked Pakistan. The inflammatory remark came after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people.
Another Yunus ally, Nahidul Islam, had earlier shared a similar “Greater Bangladesh” map that included parts of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam within Bangladesh’s borders. Though the post was later deleted, it drew widespread condemnation across South Asia.
Analysts warn of shifting regional dynamics
Experts believe Yunus’s recurring references to India’s northeast and his overtures to China and Pakistan signal an attempt to reposition Bangladesh’s foreign policy. Under Sheikh Hasina, Dhaka maintained strong economic and security ties with India while balancing its relations with Beijing. However, since Yunus’s rise, the government has visibly moved closer to China and Pakistan, unsettling New Delhi.
Foreign policy analyst Dr. Rehman Sobhan noted, “These repeated provocations cannot be seen in isolation. They reflect an ideological and strategic shift that undermines the regional balance maintained for years.”
Conclusion
As outrage mounts, India is likely to raise the issue through diplomatic channels. For now, Yunus’s silence amid growing criticism both at home and abroad has only deepened concerns that his government may be deliberately testing India’s patience to assert a new regional posture. The controversy has further strained an already fragile relationship and could cast a long shadow over South Asian geopolitics in the coming months.