Stopping ‘border killings’, Ganga waters treaty renewal, Hasina’s presence in India to be priority for incoming BNP government

Stopping “border killings”, starting negotiation for renewal of the Ganga waters agreement, and increasing the number of medical visas are some of the priority areas for Bangladesh’s incoming government, sources in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party told The Hindu on Friday (February 13, 2026).

The BNP, led by its chairman Tarique Rahman, is set to return to power in Dhaka after two decades, following a landslide victory in the February 12 Parliamentary election, winning an absolute majority of seats.

Giving an insight of the list of deliverables, BNP’s sources said India should urgently deal with the issue of Sheikh Hasina’s presence on Indian soil as Ms. Hasina has been making comments about the developments in her country.

‘Inflames passions’

“Out of all issues, it is the border killings by the Border Security Force of India that creates great difficulty for the Government of Bangladesh. Reports of killings in the bordering areas immediately inflames passion especially in university campuses where protests break out escalating the situation,” said a source who is working on the neighbourhood projects of the BNP.

The BNP member said that India and Bangladesh have a settled border and it makes no sense to shoot to kill someone. “If someone is suspected of smuggling, then they should be arrested and not fired upon,” the source argued seeking a more humane approach to the matter.

He further said that India should look into the issue of continued presence of former Prime Minister Ms. Hasina and her top aides on Indian soil as the Awami League leader’s comments will pose a challenge to normalisation of ties and indicated that these issues will be among the first items that would be discussed by the incoming government.

‘Treaty renewal is due’

The other big issue that will have to be prioritised, The Hindu was told is the renewal of the Ganga Waters Treaty that will have to be renewed before December 2026. Indian diplomatic sources had flagged that the technical teams that were supposed to meet to iron out the details of the renewal agreement in the two years did not meet though the matter featured during the July 2024 visit of Ms. Hasina when she was Prime Minister. Bangladesh will also raise the need to conclude this treaty in a “fair” manner, the source said.

He further said the number of medical visas that are issued by India are inadequate and that India must relax medical visas as it is a great people-to-people connector. “We are being pushed to go to China in search of medical treatment. If pushed by denial of medical visa, we will find an alternative as in today’s world an alternative will present itself automatically but our cultural commonalities make medical treatment in India a more comfortable process,” said the source urging India to enhance people-to-people diplomacy.