Bangladesh seeks more ‘diplomatic room’ with Pakistan outreach amid India concerns

For many years, India was a key training ground for many of Bangladesh’s senior officials, as well as a source of support and regional guidance. Now, some are being trained in Pakistan, a symbolic shift that has unsettled New Delhi and offered an early clue to how Dhaka’s new government wants to deal with its neighbours.A delegation of 12 senior Bangladeshi bureaucrats attended an executive training programme at the Civil Services Academy in Lahore from May 4 to May 21, a move analysts said reflected Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s attempt to give Bangladesh more diplomatic room after years of close alignment with India under ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina.The outreach comes as India closely watches Bangladesh’s foreign policy direction, particularly the normalisation of ties with Pakistan and the growing domestic influence of Islamist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami, which Delhi fears could revive security concerns along its eastern flank.