Asia | Machh ado about nothing

What ilish, a fish, says about India-Bangladesh relations

It is falling to pisces

A fish vendor shows off the fish for sale at his stall at the wholesale fish market in Kolkata, India
Photograph: Getty Images

ILISH, SAY Bengalis, is delish. A bony freshwater fish, it is to the people of Bangladesh (where it is the official national fish) and the Indian state of West Bengal (which designates it the state fish) what salmon is to Norwegians and fish and chips is to Brits: not just a staple of their diet but an integral part of their identity. It is also a good proxy for the state of India-Bangladesh relations.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Bangla dish”

From the September 14th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Asia

Illustration of national flags, including those of the US, the UK, South Korea, Japan and Australia, tucked into a crisscrossing lattice

Can Donald Trump maintain Joe Biden’s network of Asian alliances?

Discipline and creativity will help, but so will China’s actions

An alleged North Korean soldier after being captured by the Ukrainian army

What North Korea gains by sending troops to fight for Russia

Resources, technology, experience and a blood-soaked IOU


FK Arkadag's Didar Durdyev runs during a Turkmen football championship game

Is Arkadag the world’s greatest football team?

What could possibly explain the success of a club founded by Turkmenistan’s dictator


After the president’s arrest, what next for South Korea?

Some 3,000 police breached his compound. The country is dangerously divided

India’s Faustian pact with Russia is strengthening

The gamble behind $17bn of fresh deals with the Kremlin on oil and arms

AUKUS enters its fifth year. How is the pact faring?

It has weathered two big political changes. What about Donald Trump’s return?