After Pakistan, has Yunus gifted ‘Greater Bangladesh’ artwork featuring India’s northeast to Turkey?

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has sparked outrage in India again. After a Pakistani general, he has now presented the same artwork, which reportedly featured a distorted map of Bangladesh to include Northeast India, to a visiting Turkish parliamentary delegation.

Yunus’ remarks on India’s Northeast have previously angered India. The developments come as ties remain strained between India and Bangladesh under the interim leader.

Let’s take a closer look.

Yunus’ gift for Turkey

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus gifted Art of Triumph to a five-member Turkish parliamentary delegation led by Mehmet Akif Yılmaz on Monday (November 3) in Dhaka.

As per Bangladesh media reports, the book is a collection of graffiti drawn by students and youth during and after the student-led protests in the country last August that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government.

But, as per News18, the artwork outlines a “Greater Bangladesh" plan that incorporates India’s northeastern states, especially Assam, into Bangladesh’s future strategic vision.

More than what meets the eye

Unnamed sources told News18 that the book presented by Yunus included “battle plans" and “post-victory management frameworks," with the alleged aim to transform Assam into a “productive and viable region" under Dhaka’s influence.

They said this was a “deliberate ideological signal” rather than an “accidental provocation”.  “This was not an art display but a message — one directed at specific transnational Islamist networks that see Bangladesh’s interim regime as part of a wider strategic consolidation," sources claimed.

The purported reference to “Greater Bangladesh" is the first clear signal of the Bangladesh interim government’s territorial ambitions, they added.

Why is it worrying for India?

Yunus’ gift for the visiting Turkish parliamentary delegation, which allegedly refers to a so-called “Greater Bangladesh”, is a concern for India.

According to unnamed intelligence sources, cited by News18, the move could be a possible way to gauge regional responses and bring together ideological support among Islamist groups in Bangladesh and abroad.

India’s security establishment is reported to be closely observing the developments. The controversy could further complicate relations between New Delhi and Dhaka.

Before Turkey, Yunus had presented the artwork to the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2024.

This October, the Bangladesh interim leader gifted the book, including the distorted map of the South Asian country, to Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza , during the latter’s visit to Dhaka.

The controversy over “Greater Bangladesh” first surfaced in April this year, when it was claimed that the Islamist group ‘Saltanat-e-Bangla’, backed by a Turkish NGO, published a map that included Indian territory as part of Bangladesh.

Sources told Economic Times (ET) that the distorted map included Myanmar’s Arakan State, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the entire Northeast region of India.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to the reports in July in a written response to questions raised by Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The MEA said the controversial map was displayed at Dhaka University. Citing the Government of Bangladesh fact-checker platform, BanglaFact, the ministry said that there was no proof of ‘Saltanat-e-Bangla’ operating in Bangladesh.

The platform further claimed that the map was “displayed at a historical exhibition in reference to the so-called earlier Bengal Sultanate. The exhibition was held at Dhaka University on the occasion of Pohela Boisakh on April 14, 2025. The organisers of the exhibition, however, denied connections with any foreign political entity.”

Yunus had earlier invoked India’s northeast in a speech during his trip to China in April.

At the time, he called Northeast India “landlocked”, with “no way to reach out to the ocean”.
Batting for an “extension of the Chinese economy”, Yunus said Bangladesh is the “only guardian of the ocean for all this region”.

His remarks had sparked an uproar in India, with political leaders from the northeast leading the charge against him.

Bangladesh’s foreign policy shift under Yunus

Under Yunus, ties between India and Bangladesh have frayed. Whereas, Dhaka has developed closer relations with China and Pakistan.

Turkey has also increased engagement with Bangladesh since Yunus came to power last August. As per News18, Turkish NGOs, aligned with the ruling AKP led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have become increasingly active in Bangladesh. Pakistan has allegedly brought Dhaka and Ankara closer since last year.

Since early 2024, Turkey has enhanced ties with Dhaka through training programs, defence industry collaboration, and technology investment.

For Ankara, Bangladesh could counter-balance India’s growing geopolitical presence. For the Yunus government, closer ties with Turkey not only provides international legitimacy but also offers new defence linkages amid domestic uncertainty.

With inputs from agencies