Delhi Watches Warily After Report On US Overtures To Bangladesh’s Islamist Party

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Alarm bells are going off in New Delhi as it watches developments in Bangladesh with growing concern. Adding fuel to this unease is a Washington Post report suggesting that the US is exploring engagement with Bangladesh’s Islamist party, Jamaat e Islami.

The paper wrote about a closed door interaction between an American diplomat and Bangladeshi journalists on December 1, 2025, with audio recording proof to back it.

This comes at a time when India-US relations are already strained.

For India, Jamaat’s rise, combined with apparent US outreach,revives security and political issues. New Delhi has viewed the party with deep suspicion due to its opposition to Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and its proximity to Pakistan.

Jamaat has historically advocated sharia based governance and socially conservative policies that restrain women. In the past several months, Hindus and Christians have been killed and hounded, raising deep concerns in India.

The US Embassy in Dhaka has insisted that Washington does not favor any political party and described the meeting as a routine off the record exchange.  But American assessments appear to suggest that Jamaat e Islami, despite its controversial past and periods of being banned, has become too politically significant to ignore.