India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday summoned the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to lodge a formal diplomatic protest over what it described as provocative and irresponsible remarks made by Hasnat Abdullah, a leader of Bangladesh’s National Citizen Party. New Delhi conveyed its strong disapproval, stressing that such statements undermine regional stability and bilateral ties.
The controversy stems from Abdullah’s speech on Monday at Dhaka’s Central Shaheed Minar, where he issued a direct warning to India. Addressing a charged audience, Abdullah claimed Bangladesh could shelter forces hostile to India, including separatist groups, and assist in cutting off India’s northeastern region—popularly known as the “seven sisters”—from the rest of the country. The region comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
“We will shelter separatist and anti-India forces and then we will sever the seven sisters from India,” Abdullah declared, drawing loud cheers from sections of the gathering. He further warned New Delhi that Bangladesh would retaliate if India, in his words, provided shelter to forces that do not respect Bangladesh’s “sovereignty, potential, voting rights, and human rights.”
Without naming India directly, Abdullah also alleged that even after 54 years of independence, Bangladesh continues to face attempts by “vultures” seeking to exert control over the country. Indian officials and analysts interpreted the remarks as a thinly veiled attack on New Delhi, especially given the explicit references to India’s territorial integrity and internal security.
The MEA’s decision to summon Bangladesh’s High Commissioner reflects the seriousness with which India views the comments. Diplomatic sources indicated that India conveyed its expectation that Bangladesh’s leadership would prevent such rhetoric, particularly statements that openly threaten to encourage separatism or violence across borders.
The remarks also drew sharp reactions within India. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condemned Abdullah’s comments as “irresponsible and dangerous,” underlining the imbalance in such threats. “India is a very big country, a nuclear nation and the fourth largest economy of the world. How can Bangladesh even think about it?” Sarma said, calling for restraint and maturity in political discourse.
India-Bangladesh relations have, in recent years, been marked by close cooperation on security, connectivity, and counter-terrorism. A crucial pillar of this partnership has been Dhaka’s action against insurgent and extremist groups targeting India. New Delhi has long accused militant and separatist outfits in the Northeast of using Bangladeshi territory as sanctuaries, transit routes, and logistics bases, particularly during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Several insurgent groups from Assam and Tripura were known to operate camps and support networks across the border during that period.
Beyond separatist movements, Indian agencies have also flagged the presence of Islamist extremist networks in Bangladesh with links to India. Groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and later Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were accused of facilitating cross-border radicalisation and logistics that posed threats to eastern India.
Observers note that inflammatory statements like Abdullah’s risk reviving old suspicions and eroding the gains made through years of security cooperation. While political rhetoric is not uncommon in domestic settings, New Delhi’s firm response signals that threats to India’s unity and sovereignty—whether symbolic or explicit—will be treated as serious diplomatic concerns.
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