A fresh diplomatic storm has erupted after Bangladesh&rsquo;s interim leader Muhammad Yunus gifted a Pakistani general a controversial artefact depicting India&rsquo;s Northeast as part of Bangladesh. The distorted map, part of a book titled &ldquo;Art of Triumph: Bangladesh&rsquo;s New Dawn,&rdquo; was presented to Pakistan&rsquo;s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, during his visit to Dhaka.
The gift, shared on Yunus&rsquo; official X handle, was meant to symbolize Bangladesh&rsquo;s &ldquo;new era&rdquo; after the 2024 student uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina. But what caught global attention was the map, a depiction of the so-called &ldquo;Greater Bangladesh&rdquo; that includes India&rsquo;s entire Northeast, West Bengal, and parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, along with Myanmar&rsquo;s Arakan region. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan Calls on Chief Adviser DHAKA, October 26: The visiting Chairman of Pakistan&rsquo;s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, paid a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/A9QmFMHk4F">pic.twitter.com/A9QmFMHk4F</a>
&mdash; Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh (@ChiefAdviserGoB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiefAdviserGoB/status/1982358782316552327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2025</a></blockquote>

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The controversial map first appeared at an exhibition at the University of Dhaka in April 2025, sparking outrage across India. Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala later raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, calling it an attack on India&rsquo;s sovereignty. The same &ldquo;Greater Bangladesh&rdquo; map had earlier been shared by Yunus aide Nahidul Islam in 2024, reviving fears of expansionist propaganda from Dhaka.
This is not the first time Yunus has made remarks seen as undermining India&rsquo;s territorial integrity. During a visit to China earlier this year, he described India&rsquo;s Northeast as &ldquo;landlocked&rdquo; and claimed Bangladesh was the &ldquo;only guardian of the ocean&rdquo; in the region. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who reaffirmed that India&rsquo;s Northeast was central to the country&rsquo;s connectivity strategy under the BIMSTEC framework.
Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina&rsquo;s government, relations between India and Bangladesh have become increasingly strained. Yunus&rsquo; tilt towards Pakistan and China has further deepened distrust, while Hasina&rsquo;s continued exile in India remains a sore point in Dhaka&rsquo;s new power circles.
The controversy also echoes India&rsquo;s long-standing border disputes with China and Pakistan. In 2023, Beijing angered New Delhi by releasing a map claiming Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as Chinese territories, while Islamabad continues to lay claim to Jammu and Kashmir.
Yunus&rsquo; latest move, many in India believe, has crossed a diplomatic red line, one that could test the already fragile ties between New Delhi and Dhaka.

Yunus sparks outrage with ‘Greater Bangladesh’ map

Yunus gifts Pakistani general a map showing India’s Northeast as Bangladesh

Yunus sparks outrage with ‘Greater Bangladesh’ map

Yunus gifts Pakistani general a map showing India’s Northeast as Bangladesh

October 27, 2025 | 22:32 IST