Bangladesh wanted good ties with India, but 'something always went wrong': Yunus

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said that his interim government wanted good relations with India, but "something always went wrong".

During an interaction with Chatham House think tank director Bronwen Maddox in London on Wednesday, Yunus addressed a wide range of issues including bilateral ties with India and the democratic roadmap for the country, starting with a “July Charter” next month.

Maddox referenced an informal diplomatic note issued to India seeking deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition and sought an update on the matter.

“This will continue… we want the whole process to be very legal, very proper… We want to build the best of relationship with India. It’s our neighbour, we don’t want to have any kind of basic problem with them,” Yunus said.

“But somehow things go wrong every time because of all the fake news coming from the Indian press… and many people say it has connections with policymakers on the top," he said.

"So, this is what makes Bangladesh very jittery, very, very angry. We try to get over this anger but a whole barrage of things keeps happening in cyberspace. We can’t just get away from that… suddenly they say something, do something, anger comes back,” he said.

“This is our big task, to make sure we can have at least a peaceful life to go on with our life. To create the life we are dreaming of,” he added.

On an audience question about the “unclear role of India” about Hasina, Yunus responded: “All the anger (against Hasina) has now transferred to India because she went there.” “When I had a chance to talk to Prime Minister Modi, I simply said: you want to host her, I cannot force you to abandon that policy. But please help us in making sure she doesn’t speak to Bangladeshi people the way she is doing (online). She announces on such and such date, such and such hour, she will speak and the whole (of) Bangladesh gets very angry,” he said.

Yunus claimed Prime Minister Modi told him that Hasina's social media activities cannot be controlled.

“It’s (an) explosive situation, you can’t just walk away by saying it’s the social media,” he added.

The close ties between India and Bangladesh came under strain after Hasina's ouster.

She faces multiple cases in Bangladesh after being ousted on August 5 last year following a major student-led agitation in the country, which forced her to flee Dhaka.

Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Laureate, who took over as the head of an interim government in Bangladesh in August last year, announced last week that national elections will be held by the first half of 2026.

Asked if he would consider being part of the elected government, Yunus replied: “No way.” He arrived on Tuesday for a four-day visit to the UK, where he was greeted with protests by Hasina’s Awami League party members in the UK. He is expected to meet King Charles III and senior members of the British government during the visit.