Stopping ‘border killings’, Ganga waters treaty renewal, Hasina’s presence in India to be priority for incoming BNP government

The BNP's incoming government prioritizes stopping border killings, renewing the Ganga waters treaty, and increasing medical visas with India.

Stopping “border killings”, starting negotiation for renewal of the Ganga waters agreement, and increasing the number of medical visas are some of the priority areas for Bangladesh’s incoming government, sources in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party told The Hindu on Friday (February 13, 2026).

The BNP, led by its chairman Tarique Rahman, is set to return to power in Dhaka after two decades, following a landslide victory in the February 12 Parliamentary election, winning an absolute majority of seats.

Giving an insight of the list of deliverables, BNP’s sources said India should urgently deal with the issue of Sheikh Hasina’s presence on Indian soil as Ms. Hasina has been making comments about the developments in her country.

“Out of all issues, it is the border killings by the Border Security Force of India that creates great difficulty for the Government of Bangladesh. Reports of killings in the bordering areas immediately inflames passion especially in university campuses where protests break out escalating the situation,” said a source who is working on the neighbourhood projects of the BNP.

The BNP member said that India and Bangladesh have a settled border and it makes no sense to shoot to kill someone. “If someone is suspected of smuggling, then they should be arrested and not fired upon,” the source argued seeking a more humane approach to the matter.

He further said that India should look into the issue of continued presence of former Prime Minister Ms. Hasina and her top aides on Indian soil as the Awami League leader’s comments will pose a challenge to normalisation of ties and indicated that these issues will be among the first items that would be discussed by the incoming government.