THE buzzword in the corridors of power in South Block nowadays is "strategic patience"-a term first used by US President Barack Obama in 2015. It is a convenient phrase to cloak setbacks in India's troubled South Asian neighbourhood. From Afghanistan-when India went all out to back President Ashraf Ghani in 2014-and the people's revolt in Sri Lanka in 2022 that saw the back of the Rajapaksa brothers, to the 'India Out' movement in the Maldives and the frequent changes in government in Nepal with leaders veering either towards India or China, the region has seen it all. Yet the unkindest cut was Bangladesh, where Sheikh Hasina, India's closest friend and ally, had to flee the country and seek shelter here. New Delhi's inability to anticipate the tumultuous events that led to the ouster of Bangladesh's Hasina or realise the strength of the student movement is a sad reflection of not just our diplomacy, but of India’s intelligence agencies that failed to gauge the mood on the streets. India was perhaps complacent, believing that Hasina could crack the whip and keep things in control as she had done in the past.
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