Khaleda Zia, steady presence amid India’s shifting neighbourhood
From president’s wife to SAARC host, Khaleda Zia built enduring, respectful ties with Indian leaders over decades.
Apart from deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda Zia remains the only leader from Bangladesh whose political and institutional engagement with India stretched from the turbulent 1970s well into the 21st century. Her long public journey mirrored the evolution of India–Bangladesh relations themselves—uneasy at times, pragmatic at others, but never entirely broken.
Known respectfully as Begum Zia to the people of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia did not enter public life through party ranks or street politics. Her first exposure to diplomacy came quietly, almost by circumstance, as the spouse of General Ziaur Rahman, Bangladesh’s President during a deeply uncertain phase after independence. The 1970s were years of fragile nation-building, regional mistrust, and political volatility. India and Bangladesh, bound by geography and history, were still learning how to coexist as sovereign neighbours after the trauma of 1971.
During this period, Khaleda Zia observed diplomacy up close—formal banquets, visiting delegations, cautious conversations shaped by Cold War pressures and regional anxieties. Diplomatic records from the late 1970s show her presence at official events involving Indian leaders, at a time when trust between New Delhi and Dhaka was tentative and often strained. These early experiences would quietly shape her understanding of India as both an unavoidable neighbour and a critical regional actor.
Her life changed irrevocably after the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman in 1981. What followed was not an immediate rise to power, but years of personal grief, political uncertainty, and gradual entry into opposition politics. Khaleda Zia’s transformation from a reserved first lady into a mass political leader was neither sudden nor smooth. Yet by the early 1990s, she had emerged as a central figure in Bangladesh’s democratic movement, eventually becoming Prime Minister in 1991.
As Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia dealt with India not as an observer but as a decision-maker. Her approach was often marked by caution, reflecting domestic political pressures and deep-rooted sensitivities in Bangladesh about sovereignty and regional dominance. Still, she maintained open channels with Indian leadership, recognising that geography left little room for disengagement. Trade, river water sharing, border management, and security concerns demanded dialogue, even when political rhetoric grew sharp.
Her interactions with India continued across multiple terms and political cycles. From hosting Indian Prime Ministers at SAARC summits to bilateral meetings on the sidelines of regional forums, Khaleda Zia remained a familiar presence to successive generations of Indian leaders. While her government and India did not always see eye to eye, especially on security and insurgency-related issues, there was an underlying recognition on both sides that stable relations were essential.
What set Khaleda Zia apart was not warmth alone, but continuity. In a region where leadership changes often reset diplomatic equations, she represented institutional memory. She remembered the fragile beginnings of Bangladesh’s foreign policy, the early hesitations between Dhaka and New Delhi, and the cost of confrontation. That long view informed her dealings, even during periods of tension.
By the time the 21st century arrived, Khaleda Zia had become more than a political rival to Sheikh Hasina; she was a living link to Bangladesh’s formative decades. Her interactions with India reflected not just policy choices, but a personal journey shaped by loss, power, opposition, and endurance. In that sense, Khaleda Zia was not merely a participant in India–Bangladesh relations—she was a witness to their entire modern arc.