Mending fences

Published : Feb 12, 2010 00:00 IST

UPA CHAIRPERSON SONIA Gandhi, President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 12. Sheikh Hasina was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on the occasion.-KAMAL KISHORE/PTI

UPA CHAIRPERSON SONIA Gandhi, President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 12. Sheikh Hasina was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on the occasion.-KAMAL KISHORE/PTI

BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas first official visit to India after the Awami League regained power in December 2008 has been hailed as a significant success in both New Delhi and Dhaka. The visit, which took place in the first week of January, has, according to officials and most commentators, marked an end to the mutual distrust that had long characterised relations between the two countries. Sheikh Hasina said it presented a historic opportunity to build a new and forward-looking relationship between the two countries.

However, she conceded that Bangladeshis still harboured suspicions about their big neighbour India. She told the media that if the agreements signed during her trip were implemented, then these suspicions would fade away as common people want a better life.

There are a lot of issues that still divide the two countries, ranging from the sharing of river waters to the demarcation of border, both land and sea. Bangladesh has complained to the United Nations about the claims of India and Myanmar on the maritime boundary demarcation in the Bay of Bengal. The area is rich in oil and gas deposits. Multinationals are already prospecting for oil in the Bay of Bengal.

Sheikh Hasina has emerged politically stronger after being in the wilderness for many years. She was even briefly jailed during the quasi-military rule that followed the term of the previous government, which was headed by her arch rival, Khaleda Zia.

Her political rivals were decimated in the 2008 general elections. The Awami League, founded by her father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, won a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The smaller anti-India parties, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, were politically decimated. Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party is facing a vertical split.

Sheikh Hasina, during her second stint in office, has the advantage of a decisive mandate and a splintered opposition. This time around she seems determined to make tough choices on the domestic and foreign policy fronts. Most of those involved in the assassination of her father and immediate family members have been brought to book after years of delay.

She has also taken a tough stance on home-grown Islamist militancy. Many of her close associates, including former Finance Minister A.M.S. Kibria, have fallen victim to militants. She herself narrowly survived an assassination attempt by militants four years ago.

The Indian government, as a token of its high regard for the Bangladesh leader, gave her the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. In a speech delivered on the occasion, Sheikh Hasina said that the award greatly honours my country and my people.

During her visit, the two countries signed five important agreements, including treaties on tackling cross-border crime and combating terrorism. Terrorists do not have any religion or country and are giving a bad name to Islam, which symbolises peace, she said. Sheikh Hasina reiterated during her visit that Bangladeshi soil would no longer be used by groups inimical to India.

Prior to her visit, the Bangladesh government handed over Arabinda Rajkhowa, the senior United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leader, and four other separatists to India. More than 200 rebel fighters have reportedly fled their sanctuaries in Bangladesh. Many have since surrendered to Indian authorities.

Bangladesh, on its part, has been complaining about the presence of rebel groups on Indian territory. The secessionist Santi Bahini is active among the tribal people in the hill tracts of Bangladesh. Dhaka has been alleging that the Indian authorities are providing sanctuary and training for separatist groups intent on breaking up Bangladesh.

During Sheikh Hasinas visit, New Delhi made a commitment to provide a $1-billion credit line to improve Bangladeshs infrastructure. This is the highest amount of aid given by India to any country so far. Much of the money will be used to improve the railway network and dredge the 50-odd rivers shared by the two countries.

The Indian government has also made a commitment to supply 250 megawatts of power to Bangladesh from its national power grid. It has offered to look favourably into Bangladeshs demands for duty-free access for its goods into India. The country has a huge trade deficit, amounting to $2 billion, with India. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated that India was going to allow duty-free access to certain Bangladeshi products on a priority basis. Dhaka assured New Delhi that it would encourage Indian investments in Bangladesh.

Indian investments in Bangladesh currently stand at a paltry $12.5 million. The Tata group had to scrap a $3-billion deal for a power and steel project at the eleventh hour a few years ago because of political compulsions. Sheikh Hasina, during her visit, met with the captains of Indian industry and encouraged them to look at Bangladesh as an investment destination.

New Delhi is particularly interested in the construction of a 950-km Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline. With India now agreeing to allow Nepal and Bhutan to ship their goods through its territory to the Bangladeshi ports of Chittagong and Mongla, Bangladesh may be better disposed towards the pipeline project. There are many contentious issues that are yet to be sorted out. The latest, relating to water sharing, has to do with Indias decision to build a dam on the Barak river in Tipaimukh in Manipur. Sheikh Hasina told reporters in New Delhi that she was happy that no work had started on the proposed dam. Indian officials assured her that New Delhi would not do anything that would affect the interests of its neighbour.

Successive Bangladeshi governments have complained about India building dams on rivers flowing into their country. The dams have led to excessive flooding during the wet season and acute paucity of water during the summer. Bangladesh is yet to reconcile fully to the Farakka Barrage, built by India on the Padma river. A national outcry is bound to erupt if India goes ahead with the construction of the Tipaimukh dam.

The two countries share a 4,096-km border, along which are 51 Bangladeshi enclaves. Dhakas complaint is that the border issues have not been sorted out despite the Mujib-Indira Pact of 1974. India, complain Bangladeshis, has not bothered to ratify the treaty or implement its key provisions such as the transfer of the Teen Bigha corridor, which is under Indian control.

The Bangladeshi enclaves occupy more than 7,030 acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare). The people in these enclaves live in terrible conditions, with severely restricted access to water, roads, electricity and other essential supplies. Six and a half kilometres of border along the Tripura-Comilla border still remain undemarcated.

Bangladeshis also complain of the Border Security Force (BSF) using its firepower indiscriminately. Since 1990, more than a thousand civilians on the Bangladesh side of the border have been killed. Some BSF soldiers and Indian nationals were killed in exchanges of fire along the border in early 2000.

There are reports suggesting that the Indian government has agreed in principle to reach a comprehensive settlement with Bangladesh on the border issue. The short stretch of border that is still undemarcated will be formally delineated. New Delhi also plans to build a flyover connecting the Bangladeshi enclave of Angarpota-Dahagram to the mainland. The enclave is separated by the Teen Bigha corridor.

If there is constructive agreement between India and Bangladesh, the entire South Asian region stands to gain. And if Bangladesh is allowed to trade directly with the seven north-eastern States, it will help reduce the considerable trade imbalance between the two countries.

If the mutual suspicions that have characterised relations between the two countries for decades can be put on the back burner, the new-found bonhomie can be a turning point not only for bilateral relations but also for the economic and political well-being of the region.

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