Some "fishy diplomacy" has caused "diplomatic tensions" and a "culinary crisis" between Bangladesh and India, according to Al Jazeera.
Hilsa, which is Bangladesh's national fish, is "cherished as the queen among fish", said the outlet. Central to the culinary identity of both Bangladesh and the bordering Indian state of West Bengal, it was once used by former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina as a "tool of diplomacy" to "foster ties" with India.
But now the fish, also known as ilish, is at the heart of tensions between the two nations because Bangladesh's interim government briefly banned its exportation to India last month. It came ahead of the festival of Durga Puja, which honours the Goddess Durga's triumph over the demon Mahishasura, when the fish is traditionally eaten with mustard sauce.
Some saw the ban as a reproach for New Delhi's backing of Hasina, who has taken refuge in India since her removal from office. But the Bangladeshi authorities insisted it was simply to reduce the cost of the freshwater fish domestically because of a leaner harvest this year.
"We cannot allow ilish to be exported while our own people cannot buy them," Farida Akhter, adviser to the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, told the Dhaka Tribune.
The plot thickened when the ban was reversed within two weeks and Bangladesh approved a 3,000-tonne shipment to India. The cargo was received with excitement: when 45 tonnes of the "prized, white-fleshed fish" arrived in Calcutta it drew hundreds of locals to the Howrah wholesale fish market, said Wion.
Whatever the reason for the brief ban, experts said it constituted "a firm departure" from Hasina's tradition of using the fish as a symbol of goodwill and friendship. | 
