Geography is a prison. For New Delhi and Dhaka, there’s no chance of parole. They share 4,000 kilometers of border, a messy history of blood, and a current diplomatic vibe that can best be described as a house on fire where both parties are arguing over who forgot to turn off the stove.

Sheikh Hasina is currently sitting in an Indian safe house, which is the ultimate geopolitical awkwardness. For fifteen years, she was India’s "ride or die" in the region. She cracked down on insurgents and kept the transit routes open. Now, she’s the deposed leader of a country that wants her back to face trial for "massacres." New Delhi is stuck holding a hot potato that’s starting to smell like a PR disaster.

It isn’t just about one woman, though. It’s about the bill.

Take the Adani Power deal. Bangladesh currently owes Adani Power Jharkhand Ltd somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 million for electricity. It’s a staggering sum for a country trying to stabilize its central bank. The optics are even worse. The deal was signed during the Hasina era under a cloud of "special favor" allegations. Now, the interim government in Dhaka is looking at those monthly invoices and wondering why they’re paying a premium for power generated in India while their own people deal with blackouts. It’s not just a trade deficit; it’s a resentment multiplier.

Then there’s the water. The Teesta River remains the ultimate ghost in the machine. For decades, New Delhi has dangled a water-sharing treaty like a carrot, only for domestic Indian politics to yank it back at the last second. When you control the tap to a neighbor’s farmland, "neighborly love" starts to feel like a hostage situation. Dhaka’s farmers don’t care about high-level summits in Delhi; they care about dry riverbeds.

The border hasn't helped either. The Border Security Force (BSF) has a nasty habit of shooting first and identifying bodies later. To New Delhi, it’s about stopping cattle smuggling and "infiltrators." To the average person in Bangladesh, it’s a reminder that the "big brother" next door carries a loaded shotgun and doesn't mind using it. You can’t build a "bridge of friendship" when one side keeps putting up barbed wire and body bags.

Repairing this isn't going to be a quick fix. It’s not a software patch you can push overnight. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate currently steering the ship in Dhaka, isn't exactly a New Delhi fanboy. He’s spent years being hounded by Hasina’s legal machinery, and he hasn't forgotten that India stayed silent while it happened. He knows his mandate is to distance the country from the previous regime’s "vassal state" reputation.

Meanwhile, Beijing is lurking in the wings with a checkbook and a grin. China doesn’t care about the ethics of extradition or the nuances of democratic transitions. They just want ports and influence. If India stays stubborn about Hasina or keeps dragging its feet on the Teesta treaty, they shouldn't be surprised when Dhaka starts looking for a new best friend with deeper pockets and fewer historical grudges.

The irony is that India needs a stable Bangladesh more than it needs a friendly one. An unstable neighbor is a vacuum for every headache New Delhi tries to avoid: extremism, migration, and Chinese naval docks. But New Delhi’s "neighborhood first" policy has always suffered from a specific kind of arrogance. It assumes that if you back the right strongman, you don't have to worry about the people.

That bet just went bust.

So, can the ties be repaired? Maybe. But it requires India to admit that the "Hasina era" is over and that their old playbook is useless. It requires Dhaka to realize that they can’t just wish India away, no matter how much they might want to.

For now, we’re left with the spectacle of a former Prime Minister living in a guesthouse, a massive unpaid electricity bill, and a river that’s running dry.

Does New Delhi value a single old ally more than a hundred million new skeptics?