India sends Victory Day message to Bangladesh

India has sent its best wishes to Bangladesh on its Victory Day, which commemorates the end of the conflict that marked the South Asian country’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971.

Freedom fighters in what was then East Pakistan waged a war against the western wing of Pakistan in 1971 after the latter violently clamped down on protestors demanding democratic rights. India militarily assisted East Pakistan in the war, playing an instrumental role in the freedom fighters winning the conflict and establishing Bangladesh. 

“On Vijay Diwas [Victory Day], we remember the brave soldiers whose courage and sacrifice ensured India had a historic victory in 1971,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X on Tuesday. “Their steadfast resolve and selfless service protected our nation and etched a moment of pride in our history.”

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar reached out to Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain on the occasion, conveying his best wishes.

Traditionally warm relations between New Delhi and Dhaka have been under severe strain since former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government was deposed after an uprising last year. 
India has rejected recent charges by Dhaka that its territory is being used for activities damaging to its eastern neighbor.

Many former ministers, lawmakers, and liberation-war veterans from the ousted Awami League government, feted for their contributions to the Liberation War, are now in prison on allegations of crimes linked to the July–August 2024 uprising in Bangladesh.
Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal have been sentenced to death in absentia by a Bangladeshi court for ordering a violent crackdown on student protests in 2024.