Bangladesh's Yunus says will step down after polls
LONDON: Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus (pic) said Wednesday (June 11) that there was "no way" he wanted to continue in power after elections he has announced for April, the first since a mass uprising overthrew the government.
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule.
Speaking in London, Yunus, asked if he himself was seeking any political post, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said there was "no way", waving his hands in the air for emphasis.
"I think none of our cabinet members would like to do that, not only me", he said.
Yunus was answering questions after speaking at London's foreign policy think tank Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
He also said he wanted to unveil a "big package" of proposals next month that he dubbed a "July Charter" - one year on since the students launched the demonstrations that toppled Hasina.
The aim of the package, he added, was to overhaul democratic institutions after Hasina's tenure.
"We want to say goodbye to the old Bangladesh and create a new Bangladesh", Yunus said.
The charter is being drafted by a government "consensus commission", talking to political parties to "find that which are the recommendations they will accept", he added.
Yunus has long said elections will be held before June 2026, but says the more time the interim administration had to enact reforms, the better.
But after political parties jostling for power repeatedly demanded he fix a timetable, he said earlier this month that elections would be held in April 2026.
"Our job is to make sure that the transition is managed well, and that people are happy when we hand over power to the elected government," he said.
"So we want to make sure that the election is right, that is a very critical factor for us. If the election is wrong, this thing will never be solved again".
Yunus is also expected to meet in London with Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is widely seen as likely to sweep the elections.
Rahman, 59, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has lived in London since 2008 after being sentenced in absentia under Hasina - convictions since quashed.
He is widely expected to return to Dhaka to lead the party in polls. - AFP
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Bangladesh's Yunus says will step down after polls
LONDON: Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus (pic) said Wednesday (June 11) that there was "no way" he wanted to continue in power after elections he has announced for April, the first since a mass uprising overthrew the government. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule. Speaking in London, Yunus, asked if he himself was seeking any political post, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said there was "no way", waving his hands in the air for emphasis. "I think none of our cabinet members would like to do that, not only me", he said. Yunus was answering questions after speaking at London's foreign policy think tank Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He also said he wanted to unveil a "big package" of proposals next month that he dubbed a "July Charter" - one year on since the students launched the demonstrations that toppled Hasina. The aim of the package, he added, was to overhaul democratic institutions after Hasina's tenure. "We want to say goodbye to the old Bangladesh and create a new Bangladesh", Yunus said. The charter is being drafted by a government "consensus commission", talking to political parties to "find that which are the recommendations they will accept", he added. Yunus has long said elections will be held before June 2026, but says the more time the interim administration had to enact reforms, the better. But after political parties jostling for power repeatedly demanded he fix a timetable, he said earlier this month that elections would be held in April 2026. "Our job is to make sure that the transition is managed well, and that people are happy when we hand over power to the elected government," he said. "So we want to make sure that the election is right, that is a very critical factor for us. If the election is wrong, this thing will never be solved again". Yunus is also expected to meet in London with Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is widely seen as likely to sweep the elections. Rahman, 59, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has lived in London since 2008 after being sentenced in absentia under Hasina - convictions since quashed. He is widely expected to return to Dhaka to lead the party in polls. - AFP
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Rivers as the New Frontlines of Geopolitics
We are used to thinking of power grids, trade routes, and semiconductor fabs as the terrain of 21st-century power competition. But now add rivers—yes, rivers—to that list. Not just as lifelines of civilisation, but as instruments of national leverage. What's unfolding high on the Tibetan plateau, in a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon and barely touched by modernity, is a tectonic shift—both literal and geopolitical. China's proposed mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo—known downstream as the Brahmaputra—isn't just an engineering feat. It's a declaration. At $137 billion and 60,000 megawatts, it will dwarf even the Three Gorges Dam. But its real power isn't electrical—it's geopolitical. This isn't just about energy. It's about sovereignty, security, and survival in an age where climate instability and great power rivalry are converging. China's Hydro-Imperium: Controlling the Source The dam sits in Tibet, the "Water Tower of Asia," source of major rivers that sustain over a billion people across 10 countries. For Beijing, it's part green transition, part strategic assertion. At one level, it's about reducing coal dependence and meeting net-zero targets. At another, it's about establishing hydro-sovereignty: the idea that whoever controls the headwaters controls the future. This becomes starkly provocative when we consider Asia's hydro-geometry. China sits upstream of the Brahmaputra, Mekong, Irrawaddy, and Salween—rivers that snake into India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Unlike India, which is bound by the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and the Ganges Treaty with Bangladesh, China has signed no binding transboundary water agreements. It prefers soft, bilateral deals—tools it can adjust as strategic needs evolve. India's Strategic Counter: Deterrence Through Waterworks That's why India is alarmed. From New Delhi's perspective, this is not just another dam— it's a hydrological threat vector. It gives China the power to flood, throttle, or reroute a river that nourishes India's northeast, sustains Bangladesh's delta, and symbolises shared South Asian destiny. Indian policymakers worry Beijing could weaponise seasonal flows— triggering sudden surges during monsoons or withholding water during critical planting seasons. That's not paranoia. That's strategic realism in an age of gray-zone conflict. India's response? Not missiles—but megawatts. The revival of its Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), just downstream of the proposed Chinese dam, is both symbolic and strategic. On paper, it's about power generation. In reality, it's about deterrence. It sends a message: You control the upstream, but we can shape the downstream. And there's more. India's recent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan— once a pillar of regional stability—marks a sharp turn in water diplomacy. The 1960 World Bank-brokered agreement had weathered decades of war and tension. But following a recent conflict and accusations of cross-border terrorism, India withdrew, citing Islamabad's refusal to renegotiate outdated terms. For Pakistan, which depends heavily on the Indus for irrigation, the implications are severe. And here's the kicker: the Brahmaputra has no treaty at all—no buffer, no arbitrator—just rising stakes and deepening mistrust. Ecology at the Edge: Sacred Lands Under Siege The fallout isn't just political. It's ecological. The Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon is a vertical Eden—home to snow leopards, Bengal tigers, 330-foot-tall cypress trees, and thousands of plant species. It's a living archive of Asia's natural history, shaped over millennia. Yet both Chinese and Indian dam projects threaten to unravel this biodiversity in the name of "national interest." The canyon is sacred to the Indigenous Adi and Monpa peoples, who have lived in its shadow for centuries. But their voices are absent from the rooms where dam blueprints are being drawn. This is no longer just a clash between nations. It's a collision between technocracy and tradition, between megaprojects and memory. Asia's Water Reckoning: From Cooperation to Contestation All of this plays into a larger game—the Asian chessboard of the 21st century. China and India are nominally partners in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. But beneath that façade lies a contest over spheres of influence, connectivity, and now, hydrology. China's Belt and Road Initiative has already expanded into Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Through "dam diplomacy," it's turning infrastructure into influence. India, in turn, is hedging—through its Act East policy, its Quad alignment with the US, Japan, and Australia, and its Indo-Pacific strategy. But none of these frameworks were designed to manage river flows or mediate water disputes. That leaves a strategic vacuum—one that China is swiftly filling with pipelines, rail links, and now, river control. And while Chinese officials insist their mega-dam is safe and non-threatening, the reality is more complex. The site is near a seismic hotspot—just 300 miles from where the strongest inland earthquake on record struck in 1950. A breach triggered by seismic activity could be catastrophic for India, Bangladesh, and the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. Add melting Himalayan glaciers and climate volatility to the mix, and you have a fragile ecological equation—made more dangerous by opacity and mistrust. What Now? A Blue Bretton Woods for Asia's Rivers So what do we do? We stop pretending this is just a bilateral issue. It's not. This is Asia's water reckoning, and it demands a multilateral response. The world has institutions for trade (WTO), finance (IMF), and carbon (UNFCCC). But for transboundary water governance? We have nothing binding. What we need is a Blue Bretton Woods—a pan-Asian water regime with enforceable rules, real-time data sharing, independent monitoring, and ecological safeguards. Because if hydro-diplomacy collapses into hydro-nationalism, the consequences won't just ripple through Asia—they'll surge. The water wars of the 21st century won't begin with gunfire. They'll begin with closed sluice gates, unpredictable flows, and displaced communities—from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. Asia's rivers once gave birth to its civilisations. The question now is whether they will define its conflicts—or its cooperation. ————-—————————————————- Author Bio: Samirul Ariff Othman is an international relations analyst and economic commentator. A former senior researcher at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), he has written extensively for numerous regional outlets. Currently he is a senior consultant with Global Asia Consulting and an adjunct lecturer at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP)
