Bangladesh’s Failure Must Worry India
New Delhi needs to create jobs for its youth to avoid the turmoil that has thrown its neighbor into chaos.
Disillusionment is growing — in Bangladesh and India.
Photographer: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
The collapse of a friendly government in Bangladesh is bad news for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Most of India’s diplomatic relationships in South Asia are increasingly swaying to Beijing’s tune. But the significance of this week’s turmoil goes beyond geopolitics. Chaos at India’s eastern doorstep is also a warning to the bigger economy: The youth want employment, from politicians they can hold accountable. What they don’t want is jobless growth with democratic backsliding.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ultimately had to flee the country after deadly protests. People resented her autocratic rule, even though she had a solid economic track record, delivering 11 years of 5%-plus growth in real per capita income since her return to power in 2009.