Round The World
New
Delhi, 10 October 2019
Hasina in India
TIES AT THEIR BEST
By Dr D.K Giri
(Prof. International Politics, JMI)
Bangladesh Prime Minister Seikh Hasina was in
India last week to bolster multiple ties. Of late, the neighbour has been the
best in South Asia for India. This was underlined by the visit, as stated by
the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque: “India and Bangladesh
relations are at their best at present, however, we are keeping our eyes open
on NRC”.
Significantly, the ties, especially under Hasina’s
regime have grown. Despite the interwoven histories of both countries, and
India’s critical role in Bangladesh’s liberation from the oppressive regime in
West Pakistan, there were recurring irritants in bilateralism, mainly on
sharing of river water and anti-India Islamic fundamentalism under Khaleda
Zia’s regime, 2001-2006.
Such tensions have been eased by Hasina, who
has stood by India at crucial moments. It was she who was the first South Asian
head of State to boycott the SAARC summit in Islamabad in 2016 following the
terrorist attack in an Indian army camp in Uri, Kashmir. Again, recently, she
almost endorsed the nullifying of Article 370 in Kashmir as an internal matter
of India. Both her government and New Delhi are on the same page on terrorism.
Even more important from New Delhi’s point of
view is Hasina’s dealing with China. Its main concern has been to prevent its
South Asian neighbours from falling prey to Chinese temptation of economic aid
etc. New Delhi’s long standing, trusted neighbour, Nepal is being seduced away
by China with promise of aid and trade. Bangladesh too has been a part of
‘string of pearls’ strategy of Beijing to increase its presence around the
Indian Ocean area.
China has promised an investment of US $24
billion in Bangladesh, compared to $2billion offered by New Delhi. Beijing also
has offered to develop the Chittagong port, which carries 90% of Bangladesh
cargo, and is the economic lifeline of the country. However, Hasina is moving
cautiously to avoid falling into the Chinese debt trap. She has recently
scrapped the Sonadia port plan to be supported by China.
Apparently, it looks good thus far. Let us view
what transpired during her meeting with Prime Minister Modi and what could be
the potential problem areas which might upset the apple cart of India-Bangladesh
bilateralism. The main talking points were Teesta water, NRC and Rohingyas. In
all, 7 pacts and 3 projects were inked between the two countries under four
heads.
On defense, maritime and border security, a network
of 21 radar system is to be installed by India in Bangladesh waters. It will
help India detect any sea-born terrorist activity along its Eastern coastline,
keep an eye on maritime neighborhood, and above all, monitor Chinese presence
in Bay of Bengal. India is building similar coastal surveillance in Mauritius,
Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Maldives. New Delhi and Dhaka agreed to carry on with
border fencing to prevent miscreants from illegally crossing over.
Second was trade. A Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement is to be initiated in order to boost trade and bilateral economic
activity. Notably, as Bangladesh is graduating out of LDCs, its exports to
India have grown over $1billion. New Delhi has agreed to ease the movement of people
with valid documents through border check posts like Akhura in Tripura, and
Ghojadanga in West Bengal. Dhaka, on its part, has agreed to supply LPG gas to
Tripura, and would allow its ports Mongla and Chaattogram to carry goods to and
from Indian North East region.
Third, in sharing of River water, both
countries agreed to work on sharing the
water of 6 rivers- Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dhara, Dudhkumar. In addition,
Dhaka agreed to supply 1.82 cusecs of water from its river Feni to Shabroom
town in South Tripura. There is acute shortage of potable water in the town as
the ground water available in the area is not safe to drink. However, the
stalemate on Teesta water continues and the pact agreed in 2011 is yet to be
signed and delivered. Also New Delhi has not yet agreed to Ganga barrage
project, which will allow Bangladesh to secure external funding.
The fourth area of cooperation covered
connectivity through air, water, rail and road between two countries. Use of
inland water for movement of cargo received immense importance in the
negotiations. Under the protocol of Inland Water Transit and Trade, two inland
water routes are to be made operational. These are Dhuliana to Aricha and
Daudkandi to Sonamura, both include to and fro.
On road and rail, the BBIN Motor vehicle
agreement is to be expedited for goods
and passengers; the Dhaka-Siliguri Bus service to commence; the frequency of
Maitree express to be increased from 4 to 5 times, Bandhan Express from 1 to 2
times a week. New Delhi also offered to modernise the Sadipur Railway workshop
and supply on a grant basis broad-gauge and meter-gauge locomotives to Bangladesh.
And both countries will increase the air services from 61 to 91 services per
week.
Both countries agreed to find safe, speedy
and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Rakhine State of Myanmar,
as the issue has been of great concern to both. However, a greater concern was
expressed by Bangladesh on the implementation of National Register of Citizens
(NRC) beyond Assam. It is likely to affect the good relations with our
neighbour. Already 19 lakh people have been identified as ‘illegal immigrants’
in Assam. Although, New Delhi sought to calm the concerns of Dhaka that NRC is
a Supreme Court monitored process and the real picture is yet to emerge, Dhaka
will remain worried about how many Bangladeshis may be treated as illegal
residents.
It may be noted that India’s excessive focus
on security issues is related to the promulgation and implementation of NRC.
Taking it beyond Assam is most likely to affect our relations with Bangladesh
and Bhutan.
Hasina was in New Delhi to attend the India
Economic Summit as its co-chair. It was co-hosted by the Ministry of Trade and
Commerce, the CII, and the World Economic Forum. The Summit was meant to
showcase India’s ‘growing economy’ and tap the potential for the world market. Aptly
titled, “Innovating India: Strengthening South Asia, Impacting the World”, the
Summit drew 800 leaders from 40 countries from diverse fields of civil society,
arts and culture, science, business and academia.
Decidedly, Bangladesh Premier’s focus was on
improving ties with New Delhi. Although she is friendlier than any of the
former heads of Bangladesh, her speech to the India-Bangladesh Business Forum
bespeaks her expectations from the biggest country in the South Asia region.
She said: “We should move away from the majority-minority mindset, and respect
the texture of pluralism in South Asia by maintaining its diversities in
religion, ethnicity, and language”. She exhorted, “We should balance our
geopolitical realities through friendship and collaboration”. Addressing her
domestic audience, she said, “We cannot trade off long term interests for short
term gain’’. Such meaningful statements enjoin the onus of restructuring
social, economic and security policies. Will India, as ‘big brother’, heed this
plea? ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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