Towards closer India-Bangladesh relations
India-Bangladesh border management is one contentious issue that needs a lasting solution. In 2002, India began fencing off parts of the 4,090-km border
Imran S Ahmed
For Bangladesh, good relations with India are crucial for strategic, economic, and geopolitical reasons. It is a well-known fact that better economic ties have the potential to spill over into the domain of politics as apparent from the experience of the European Community. Better ties in the economic realm are also likely to help the economic development of Indias Northeast and lead to expansion of business for Bangladesh.
Certainly, the resumption of train service in March 2008 between Dhaka and Kolkata after a gap of 42 years opened up a new chapter in India-Bangladesh relations, as people from both countries benefited from the same. Apart from people to people exchanges, the train service also benefited thousands of Bangladeshis seeking medical treatment in India. An estimated 600,000 Bangladeshis on average come to India each year; in comparison, some 80,000-90,000 Indians go to Bangladesh.
On March 28, 1972, India and Bangladesh signed their first trade agreement. A revised trade agreement was signed in 2006, which governs present trading relations. In addition there are about a dozen memorandum of understandings (MoUs) for facilitating trade and economic linkages. India-Bangladesh trade have grown by 145 per cent in five years from about $1 billion in 2001-02 to $2.55 billion in 2006-07.
Presently the size of that trade is around $5 billion on average. Projections are that the same could rise to $ 10 billion as early as 2018 specially in the backdrop of the recent landmark visit to Bangladesh by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the many bilateral trade facilitation measures that were agreed on between the two countries on the occasion.
India mooted the idea of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2002, and a draft proposal was sent to Bangladesh though Dhaka has not yet decided on it despite two rounds of talks.
To take bilateral relations forward, India must seize the opportunity to engage Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Indias security concerns particularly on two fronts: end of violence in the Northeast where infiltrators are involved in terror operations, and a complete curb on terrorist organizations like Harkat-ul Jehad-al Islami (HuJI).
India should also express its concerns about a new arms bazaar in the no-mans land near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border town of Naikhangchari, which has become home to Indian insurgent outfits like ULFA, NFT and NDFB. HuJI is known to be imparting training to these outfits. On cross border terrorism, India and Bangladesh have agreed to a joint fight, though more remains to be done.
India-Bangladesh border management is one contentious issue that needs a lasting solution. In 2002, India began fencing off parts of the 4,090-km border on grounds of stopping illegal migrants and suspected militants. From the security point of view, in the remote hilly areas of Dhalai district, where barbed wire fencing is yet to be erected, militants have been taking advantage of the long porous border.
Moreover, innocent civilians continue to be killed while trying to cross the border, creating tension in the border areas. As a result, several incidents of BDR-BSF clashes occurred in the past.
Illegal immigration is a serious issue. A broad spectrum of Indian public opinion is concerned about the perceived demographic challenge from Bangladesh. Time and again, India has shared these concerns and the magnitude of the problem with Bangladesh. Smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal movements are other issues that border forces have to deal with. In March 2006, the two countries signed a bilateral agreement on mutual co-operation for preventing illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. More agreements addressing these issues were signed during the recent visit of Bangladesh by Prime Minister Modi.
In July 2007, Foreign Secretary level talks in Dhaka between India and Bangladesh saw an agreement on three broad issues: sharing of intelligence pertaining to security; India agreed to provide greater access for Bangladeshi goods in the Indian market; and, the two countries agreed to take steps to implement the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
Bangladesh authorities in the past did not accept that any militant camps were functioning in its territory. But the fact remained that some 172 training camps belonging to different insurgent groups had been operating in Bangladesh for a long time. Since the 1990s, the BSF has been regularly submitting lists of such camps to BDR at annual border meetings.
But the BDR rejected such concerns every time. According to the 1996 accord between India and Bangladesh, both countries were expected to disallow such training bases on their side of the border. But Bangladesh was noted for not living up to this commitment. It was alleged that a BNP led government deliberately ignored the disruptive activities of Pakistans ISI aimed at destabilizing Indias Northeast.
But the present government of Bangladesh appears to be more responsive to these security concerns of India. Appreciation for extending such cooperation was profusely expressed by Indian PM Narendra Modi when he visited Bangladesh this week. Several agreements reached between the two countries on the occasion point to the welcome development of greater cooperation between the two countries in the years ahead in relation to the security interests of both countries.
The writer is a security analyst who writes occasionally for the The Independent
