India rejects Bangladesh’s 'misplaced' allegations of anti-Dhaka activities on its soil

File Photo - BSF personnel patrol along the India-Bangladesh border, at Phulbari, on the outskirts of Siliguri, Friday, May 9, 2025.

India on Wednesday dismissed allegations by Bangladesh’s Interim Government that anti-Bangladesh activities were being conducted from Indian territory by members of the Awami League.

The Awami League is the party of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently living in exile in India after student-led protests against her government were hijacked by Islamists last year.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi was “not aware of any anti-Bangladesh activities by purported members of the Awami League in India or of any action that is contrary to Indian law."

“The Government does not allow political activities against other countries to be carried out from Indian soil. The Press Statement by the Interim Government of Bangladesh is thus misplaced," Jaiswal said in a statement released Wednesday evening.

Earlier the same day, Dhaka alleged, without offering evidence, that offices of the Bangladesh Awami League were being run in India and urged New Delhi to take immediate steps to shut them down.

In a statement, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said: “Any form of political activity campaigning against the interests of Bangladesh by Bangladeshi nationals, particularly by the absconding leaders/activists of a banned political party, staying on Indian soil, legally or illegally, including the establishment of offices is an unambiguous affront against the people and State of Bangladesh."

The statement specifically named purported Awami League-linked offices in New Delhi and Kolkata, calling on India to ensure their closure.

Ironically, Bangladesh itself has long faced accusations of providing shelter to anti-India elements, from Northeast separatist militants to hardline Islamist groups. Until the early 2000s, several insurgent outfits from Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya reportedly operated camps inside Bangladesh with local support, as noted in Indian security assessments and in Bertil Lintner’s 2012 book Great Game East.

Over the past decade, Dhaka has also been accused of providing safe havens to Islamist groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), which was linked to terror plots in India.

Adding to the tensions, in May 2025, retired Bangladeshi Major General A.L.M. Fazlur Rahman made a provocative post suggesting that Bangladesh, in the event of an Indian strike on Pakistan, should occupy seven Northeastern Indian states with Chinese support.