India, Feb. 11 -- India is watching keenly while Bangladesh stands at a crossroads as it goes to poll on February 12, the first national vote since the student-led uprising that swept former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office in August 2024.

The scale of the elections - being conducted under an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus - is formidable by numbers alone. Nearly 13 crore or 130 million Bangladeshis are registered to cast ballots at close to 43,000 polling stations across the country.

Let's come come back to the immediate context in a bit. First, why India is so keenly invested in the Bangladesh political situation:

The India-Bangladesh relationship has its roots in the bloody partition of British India...