Bangladeshi analysts further note that alleged inflammatory comments against Bangladesh during elections in India’s West Bengal state by Hindu nationalist politicians are sending mixed signals to Dhaka.

“All these things became highly visible and created public dissatisfaction in Bangladesh, which in a way was reflected in the thought process of Dhaka,” says Humayun Kabir, a former Bangladeshi diplomat.

“The Bangladesh government did not take these issues or these positive signs into account,” he adds.

In May, the Hindu nationalist BJP ousted the regional Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, ending its nearly 16-year rule in the state bordering Bangladesh. West Bengal and Bangladesh share linguistic, cultural and ethnic ties.

Any Chinese role in the management of the Teesta River is a sensitive security issue for India.

The river is shared by India and Bangladesh, whose efforts to reach a water-sharing agreement have been stalled for years. During Rahman’s visit to Beijing, Bangladesh said the two sides agreed to conduct a joint technical feasibility study on river management.

Experts say the river needs dredging, sediment removal and measures to restore its flow for agriculture.

“Any Chinese involvement in any project near our border will always be a cause for concern. So we certainly wouldn’t welcome it at all,” says Saran.

India and China have a decades-long border dispute. A brief war in 1962 ended in a humiliating defeat for India, and more recent border clashes have claimed lives on both sides.

Any Chinese role in the project would bring it closer to the strategically vital Siliguri Corridor, or “Chicken’s Neck,” the 22-kilometer (14-mile) strip linking mainland India with its seven northeastern states.

Bangladeshi officials say previous governments also invited India to join the Teesta project, but it took too long for Delhi to decide. They argue that China has the experience and financial resources to execute a project of this scale.

Beijing has intervened to allay India’s concerns.

“I would like to emphasize that China-Bangladesh cooperation does not target any third party and should be free from third party influence,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing during Rahman’s recent visit.

China is already Bangladesh’s largest defense supplier, accounting for more than 70% of its arms imports. Dhaka also owes Beijing more than $6bn (£4.5bn).

During Rahman’s visit, China also offered to develop the China-Myanmar-Bangladesh Economic Corridor, which connects China’s Yunnan province with the two countries.

India has long considered South Asia its sphere of influence, but China has steadily expanded its presence in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

India’s efforts to rebuild ties with Bangladesh’s new government are complicated by the continued presence in Delhi of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose extradition Dhaka has requested.

Hasina was convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity for the repression of student-led protests that left hundreds dead. She denied the charges and was sentenced to death by a special court last year.

“As long as Hasina is in Delhi, it may be politically difficult for Rahman to come to India,” says Saran.

But some experts say Rahman may still visit Delhi, as India remains too important a neighbor – economically and strategically – for Dhaka to ignore.

India also knows that stable ties with Bangladesh are vital for security in the northeast, where several ethnic separatist groups operate.

For Rahman, balancing Dhaka’s ties with the two regional powers will be a delicate diplomatic balancing act.

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