00:00Let's go across to Ambassador Veena Sikri. She was a former Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka.
00:06Ambassador Sikri, thank you so much for joining us.
00:08How do you see the situation in Bangladesh spilling into and affecting the security situation in India?
00:18You know, I think the first thing that we have to look at,
00:22India is always interested in a democratic, peaceful and stable Bangladesh.
00:27And if it's democratic, peaceful and stable, as it was under Prime Minister Shekhar Sina for 15 years,
00:33you'd have development, economic growth, development and people benefiting from 6.5-7% rate of growth.
00:39The problem of the present situation is that, A, it was a regime change operation last July, August.
00:47It was not a revolution. It was not a spontaneous uprising.
00:51It was not a spontaneous students' uprising.
00:53So, here you have a regime change operation brought in through the Jamaat-e-Islami, backed by Pakistan.
00:59And behind Pakistan, you have the other Western countries.
01:02And the Jamaat-e-Islami is the power behind the throne these days.
01:06Muhammad Yunus is only the mouthpiece of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
01:09And the Jamaat-e-Islami is bringing in, wanting to bring in an Islamist government.
01:15You know, in the interim government, interim regime of Muhammad Yunus, you have all the Islamist parties,
01:22the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, the Hidbutarir, the organization Hifat of the Islam and others.
01:27And in the elections, you will see that if the Islamist parties look at the killing of Osman Hadi,
01:35he was a political figure, very little known till last July, August, but rabidly anti-India.
01:40So, in this urge to bring in an Islamist government, anti-Indianism is at an all-time high.
01:49Right. Right. What are the structural weaknesses?
01:52You spoke about extremist forces, but what are the structural weaknesses within Bangladesh
01:56that have allowed these extremist forces to gain ground?
02:01I think there is no structural weakness except that, A, this regime change operation,
02:08Muhammad Yunus is backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami. Everything that he is doing and saying is
02:12as a mouthpiece of the Jamaat-e-Islami. And as I told you, they brought into the interim regime
02:17all the Islamist parties. If there is an interim regime, of course, this one was sworn in on the
02:22constitution on Bangladesh, which had no provision for an interim regime. But even if you go by the
02:26old definition, which was earlier in the Bangladesh constitution, it was supposed to be a
02:30caretaker government just for 90 days with a non-party group of advisors to the chief advisor.
02:38And they are supposed to conduct elections and that's all. But this regime deliberately said,
02:44no, we will do reforms before election and we will have elections after four years. It was opposed
02:48by the people. The demand of the people was for early elections. And giving into that pressure,
02:53Muhammad Yunus has now called elections in February of 2026. But still, the predilection
02:59is entirely in favor of an Islamist regime. I want to tell you that, you know, when Osman
03:05Hadi was assassinated, as I said, a small, little known person, but now the way in which he's
03:11been eulogized, you know, that he's being buried next to the grave of the national port of Bangladesh,
03:17Qazi, Nazarul Islam. And the way in which the Western embassies, the German embassy actually
03:24flew its flag at half-mast. You had Americans and others sending out strong messages of mourning
03:30and, you know, sorrow and so on. It really seems to be that many of these countries are taking a highly
03:37partisan approach. And that is completely undiplomatic.
03:40Right. Ambassador Sikri, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, in a recent interview,
03:50talked about potential political assassination if she ever goes back. How much do you think
03:55Sheikh Hasina figures in this relationship between Bangladesh and India?
03:59Look, I think, first of all, that Sheikh Hasina's presence in India does not affect our ties with
04:08Bangladesh in any way whatsoever. You know, look, we have extradition cases pending with so many
04:14countries. We have extradition cases pending with the UK, Vijay Malaya and Hiram Modi. Our relations
04:19with the UK are continuing. We've even signed an FTA with them in the last few months. You know, his
04:24Holiness, the Dalai Lama has been in India for decades, decades and decades and decades. Our relationship
04:29with China is continuing. We know each other's sensitivities. We continue the relationship. And the
04:35extradition is a very complex legal process. It cannot have an open eye. You know, even last
04:39December, without even doing a court case, the Bangladesh regime was sending notes saying,
04:44send back Sheikh Hasina. That's not, it's not credible at all. You know, it's just something
04:49political. They're just trying to make a show to their own people that they're doing this.
04:54Right. Ambassador Sikri, thank you so much for joining us here on the network.
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