India, Feb. 11 -- As Bangladesh heads to elections on Thursday, February 12, New Delhi is watching closely. India has made it clear it is ready to engage with an elected government in Dhaka. But the road to that reset has been rocky. After Sheikh Hasina's escape to India in 2024, ties between the two neighbours have taken a sharp downturn, and the killing of radical youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in December proved to be a flashpoint.

Hadi, a prominent face of the July uprising and a vocal critic of India, was shot on December 12, 2025, in Dhaka's Paltan area. He was airlifted to Singapore General Hospital on December 15 but succumbed to his injuries three days later. What followed after was a wave of violence across the country, with at...