West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh. She had refused to do so when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Dhaka. The discord was over the Teesta water-sharing agreement. This time Parliament has passed a Constitutional amendment bill on the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. 161 enclaves held by both sides will be exchanged. The Teesta treaty and the LBA may be signed during the current visit. This time Mamata Banerjee has avoided a confrontation with the Centre as she needs a financial package from it for her state. She had herself gone to Dhaka in February. An agreement with Bangladesh on the disputed issues is necessary to tackle two problems. First, Dhaka should be persuaded to extradite Northeastern insurgents sheltering in Bangladesh. Second, illegal immigration from Bangladesh has to be checked. To smoothe ruffled feathers in West Bengal, however, Mamata Banerjee said that she was not going to Dhaka to relent on the Teesta issue.
What is most intriguing is that the CPI (M) has shown some initiative in the matter although it has been reduced to a skeletal presence in Parliament and outside. CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri was in Bangladesh recently and met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina had lauded the ratification of the LBA in the Indian Parliament where the CPI(M) was at the forefront of those backing the exchange of enclaves. Yechuri hoped that outstanding issues between India and Bangladesh would be resolved during Narendra Modi’s visit. Yechuri’s attitude showed the CPI (M)’s spirit of cooperation on a visit led by the BJP and the Trinamul Congress.