Bangladesh’s interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus has stirred a major diplomatic controversy by releasing a distorted map showing parts of India as Bangladeshi territory. The map, which depicts all seven northeastern Indian states as part of Bangladesh, was reportedly presented as a gift to Pakistan’s General Shamshad Mirza during his recent visit to Dhaka.
Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government and Yunus’s assumption of office, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have notably strengthened. During General Mirza’s meeting with Yunus, the Bangladeshi leader gifted him a book titled Art of Triumph, the cover of which carried the controversial map. The image soon went viral on social media, drawing sharp criticism and outrage from Indian users.
This incident follows a series of provocative remarks by Yunus regarding India’s northeastern region. Earlier this year, while visiting China, he claimed that the “Seven Sisters” of India’s northeast were “essentially part of Bangladesh” and that the country served as their “only gateway to the sea,” describing the region as strategic for China’s economic outreach.
Mohammad Yunus gifts Pakistan General a Bangladesh map showing India’s Assam and Northeast as part of it pic.twitter.com/5yzT0mwzl9
— IndiaWarMonitor (@IndiaWarMonitor) October 26, 2025
Reacting to Yunus’s statements, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong rebuttal. The MEA stated that India possesses a 6,500-kilometre coastline along the Bay of Bengal and shares borders with five BIMSTEC nations. It emphasized that India’s northeastern region is developing as a key connectivity hub under the BIMSTEC framework, linking the region through railways, roads, waterways, pipelines, and grid networks extending up to the Pacific Ocean.