How Jamaat’s rise on Bangladesh border heightens India’s eastern frontier risks

The 2026 Bangladesh parliamentary elections have delivered a national partner for India in Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). However, the elections also strengthened Jamaat-e-Islami, which won 68 seats, many concentrated along India’s eastern frontier. Jamaat’s political presence in border districts like Satkhira, Kushtia, and Rangpur gives it influence over local administration, enabling smuggling, cross-border movement, and ideological networks that overlap with extremist groups such as Hefazat-e-Islam and JMB. While BNP offers prospects for bilateral cooperation, India must address heightened security risks along West Bengal and Assam borders through intelligence, fencing, and deradicalisation programs to safeguard its eastern frontier.