At the beginning of 2021, a controversy erupted over the delivery of the vaccine developed by Oxford University, and AstraZeneca, which has a partnership with the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture the vaccine.
The statement caused a flutter in Bangladesh, which had inked a deal with India last year to receive 30 million doses of the vaccine. Many Bangladeshis felt that India was backsliding on its obligations as part of the agreement. Some took to social media labeling India as an untrustworthy neighbor.
Following the export ban, onion prices in Bangladesh jumped by more than 50%, prompting the government to procure supplies from elsewhere and provide onions at subsidized rates.
"India's relations with its neighbors have suffered under PM Modi. Sheikh Hasina, India's most trusted ally in South Asia, has every reason to be upset because the Teesta water sharing treaty has not happened.
Her government and people worry over New Delhi's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the border killings and worse, the utter humiliation of being called 'termites' by (India's Home Minister) Amit Shah."
India is the biggest supplier of onions to Bangladesh, which buys a yearly average of more than 350,000 tons.