In the post-Sheikh Hasina days, Bangladesh has called for a recalibration of its foreign policy, which many Bangladeshis argue was “disproportionately India-centric”. The Tarique Rahman government has called for a “Bangladesh First” foreign policy, emphasising strategic autonomy, economic diplomacy, balanced global engagement, regional connectivity, and climate diplomacy. Rahman has not yet visited New Delhi despite an invitation from prime minister Narendra Modi. Bangladesh has also decided to review around 101 bilateral ties that Hasina’s government signed with India.There are some notable reasons why the distance between India and Bangladesh is widening. First is the extradition of Hasina, who is staying in New Delhi, and her political statements from the Indian capital. In August 2026, Hasina appeared online at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi, where she announced her plans to return to Bangladesh in December 2026. The Bangladesh government was “outraged” and in a statement added that the country will “never be a client State”, an apparent reference to what some Bangladeshi analysts see the country as during Hasina’s rule.India maintained that the event was privately organised and that the government does not endorse what was said from the event’s platform. Second, water-related matters. The Ganga/Ganges Waters Treaty (GWT) is going to expire in December this year. Bangladesh is seeking a long-term pact with a guarantee clause, while the Janata Dal (United), an important ally of the Narendra Modi-led Indian government, opposes its renewal. Connecting India-Bangladesh ties with the GWT, in April, in an interview with Indian channel NDTV, Bangladesh’s foreign minister Khalilur Rahman said, “…the Ganges water-sharing agreement – based on fairness and climate resilience – will be the first test of fixing bilateral ties”.The Teesta River water issue also remains to be addressed. After a change in the government in West Bengal, Bangladesh’s ruling party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), congratulated the Suvendu Adhikari government, expressing hope that the Teesta water issue will be resolved soon. Third, after Adhikari was elected as chief minister of West Bengal, he ordered district administrations to set up “holding centres” for suspected illegal foreigners and foreign prisoners awaiting repatriation, backing the “detect, delete and deport” policy.The Tarique Rahman government has already talked about taking action if people are pushed inside Bangladesh. This issue adds to the confrontation between India and Bangladesh. Fourth, the increasing strength of Islamists in Bangladesh and Hindutva forces in the Indian states bordering Bangladesh create competitive communalism in the region, affecting ties between people from the two countries.Bangladesh’s growing proximity to PakistanAlthough the distance between Dhaka and New Delhi has increased, Bangladesh has been resetting its ties with Pakistan. In January 2025, the Bangladesh Naval ship Samudra Joy participated in the multinational naval exercise Aman in Karachi. Bangladesh has previously participated in the 2007, 2009, and 2013 editions of the exercise Aman. Among all, the most important development in the bilateral visit was the landing of Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, in Dhaka in August 2025.During Dar’s visit, Pakistan and Bangladesh signed six agreements, memorandum of understandings (MoUs) and instruments. A new shipping route linking Karachi and Chattogram has opened, the two countries resumed direct flights , agreed to increase cooperation in trade and business and signed an MoU to strengthen cooperation to prevent illicit drug trafficking, narcotics abuse and related money laundering activities through intelligence sharing.In May, a delegation of Bangladeshi bureaucrats attended an executive training programme at the Civil Services Academy in Lahore. Further, reports from Dhaka say that it could consider joining the Mecca Pact, a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey.On the matter, state minister for foreign affairs Humaiun Kobir said, “ If there is a security arrangement among Islamic nations in the Middle East, it is not unusual for us to consider participating. It is being viewed positively.” In September, Tarique Rahman met Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.Such developments in Bangladesh and Pakistan worry India. India’s former Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, noted that “there is a possible convergence of interest…between China, Pakistan and Bangladesh, [which] may have security implications for regional stability and security dynamics.”Then, Indian media reports and some commentators feel that Pakistani security agencies may fan “anti-India” sentiment in Bangladesh. Further, Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, has alleged that “Bangladesh has become another Pakistan on India’s eastern front” and that there is a presence of foreign countries’ intelligence agencies in Bangladesh.Despite such growing cooperation, some serious past issues remain unsettled in Pakistan-Bangladesh ties. First, Bangladesh demands US$4.52 billion in financial claims from Pakistan to cover its share of pre-1971 assets, including foreign aid, unpaid provident funds and savings instruments, and the share of foreign aid sent to then-East Pakistan following Cyclone Bhola in 1970. Second, Bangladesh seeks a formal apology for the atrocities committed on the Bengali-speaking population by the Pakistani Army and its collaborators in East Pakistan. Finally, Dhaka wants Islamabad to take back around 324,000 stranded Pakistanis living in camps in Bangladesh.As Bangladesh and Pakistan reset their ties, India has also been taking measures to restore its derailed relations with Dhaka. On India’s efforts, former Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said India has already made many “overtures”, to which Bangladesh has to respond. India may have made “overtures”; most of the contending issues between the two countries remain largely unaddressed. Unless a few issues, even symbolically, are addressed, there is less chance of repairing India-Bangladesh ties.Amit Ranjan is a Research Fellow at ISAS, NUS, Singapore.