Muhammad Yunus sparks anti-India row again, gifts a map showing Northeast India in 'Greater Bangladesh' to Pakistani general

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has stirred a fresh controversy after presenting a gift to a visiting Pakistani general that featured a distorted map of Northeast India in Bangladesh. The map included India’s Assam and other northeastern states as part of Bangladesh, triggering outrage across the region.

The controversial gift to Pakistani general

The incident took place during the visit of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, to Dhaka. A photo shared on Yunus’ official X account showed him presenting a book titled “Art of Triumph: Bangladesh’s New Dawn” to the Pakistani general.

The book, meant to celebrate the 2024 student movement that led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, included a map portraying Bangladesh as encompassing Assam and other northeastern Indian states. The distorted map immediately triggered backlash on social media and among political observers.

Map reflects ‘Greater Bangladesh’ concept

The controversial map appears to represent the idea of a “Greater Bangladesh,” a concept propagated by the Dhaka-based Islamist group Sultanat-e-Bangla. The group’s version of the map extends Bangladesh’s borders to include all of India’s Northeast, West Bengal, parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Myanmar’s Arakan region.

This map was first seen publicly in April 2025 at an exhibition held at the University of Dhaka on Pohela Baishakh, the Bengali New Year. The issue was later raised in India’s Rajya Sabha in August 2025 by Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala.

In 2024, Yunus’ close associate Nahidul Islam had also circulated a similar map online, suggesting the inclusion of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam within Bangladesh’s territory.

Yunus’ repeated remarks on India’s northeast

This is not the first time Muhammad Yunus has made remarks touching on India’s northeastern region. During his visit to China in April, he had said, “The seven states of India, the eastern part of India... they are a landlocked country. They have no way to reach out to the ocean.”

Following the statement, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar underlined the significance of India’s Northeast as a “connectivity hub” for the BIMSTEC grouping that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

India-Bangladesh relations under strain

Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government, relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have become tense. Yunus has been seen working towards strengthening ties with China and Pakistan, moves that have raised concern in India.

Meanwhile, Hasina’s exile in India has also become a sensitive diplomatic issue between the two countries.

India’s ongoing border disputes

India continues to face similar map-related disputes with its neighbours. In 2023, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources released a map showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as Chinese territories, prompting a strong protest from New Delhi.

India also remains in dispute with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with Islamabad claiming sovereignty over the region, parts of which remain under Pakistan’s control as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.