India-Bangladesh ties ease with visa restart amid China concerns

India’s decision to resume tourist visas for Bangladeshi nationals marks the clearest sign yet of a thaw in strained ties, but analysts say the deeper test will be whether trade links can be rebuilt while Dhaka courts Chinese investment near India’s sensitive eastern flank.

India began accepting tourist visa applications from Bangladeshis on Sunday, nearly two years after services were suspended in the fallout from violent protests that forced former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina from power and sent her fleeing to India.

The relationship has begun to improve under Bangladesh’s new government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, whose administration lifted a freeze on visa services for Indian nationals in February, even as Hasina’s presence in India remains a source of diplomatic friction.

India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi, who took over as envoy this month, has been given the rank of a cabinet minister, a move analysts said reflected the importance New Delhi placed on relations with its neighbour.

“Tourist visits have just opened up and I am sure other things slowly will start as well, such as cross-border trade,” said Sreeradha Datta, professor of international relations at India’s O.P. Jindal Global University.

Besides bilateral trade, such measures could boost Bangladesh’s exports to third parties, she said.