Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took the lead in welcoming the BNP’s victory in Bangladesh’s national elections, seeking to make the most of a result that India can work with in a poll where the choice was essentially between parties with varying degrees of hostility towards India.

Modi was among the first world leaders to speak to BNP chairman and Prime Minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman. “Delighted to speak with Mr Tarique Rahman. I congratulated him on the remarkable victory in the Bangladesh elections. I conveyed my best wishes and support in his endeavour to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh. As two close neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, I reaffirmed India’s continued commitment to the peace, progress, and prosperity of both our peoples,” he posted on X.

Earlier in the morning, Modi had posted: “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Mr Tarique Rahman for leading the BNP to a decisive victory in the parliamentary elections held in Bangladesh. This result reflects the confidence of the people of Bangladesh in your leadership. India will continue to extend its support for a democratic, progressive, and inclusive Bangladesh.”

Modi added: “I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our multifaceted relationship and advance our shared development goals.”

Although India had been pushing for an all-inclusive election without directly calling for allowing the banned Awami League to contest the polls, Friday’s result is something New Delhi can work with under the circumstances, given the institutional links with the incoming dispensation in Dhaka despite a history of frosty relations. Also, Rahman has made some positive statements about his intention to maintain good relations with India and protect minorities.

As late as Thursday evening, India was not willing to comment on whether the government would recognise the election results in view of its repeated iteration that New Delhi stands for free, fair, inclusive and credible polls in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League had been banned by the interim administration of Muhammad Yunus from contesting the polls.

In the wake of anti-India protests and the successful run of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student body, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, in a string of union polls including at Dhaka University last year, there was growing concern in India about a cascading impact on the national elections, more so because the movement that led to Hasina’s ouster in August 2024 was also led by the youth.

Under the circumstances, the BNP is India’s best bet, partly owing to the fact that it is a known entitywith which New Delhi has worked in and out of power and also because much of the party’s hostility towards India was seen as an extension of its opposition to the pro-India Awami League.

India had established early visible direct contact with Rahman in December-end when external affairs minister S. Jaishankar travelled to Dhaka for the funeral of Khaleda Zia, the former BNP chief and Prime Minister.

A week and a half later, when Rahman was picked by his party to step into his mother’s shoes and made BNP chairman, the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka was an early bird in meeting him a day later in anticipation of the election verdict and a reset in ties with the party.