From Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s forthcoming state visit to Dhaka from Tuesday is expected to take India-Bangladesh relations to a higher trajectory and move towards a strategic partnership provided both the countries run with the time and focus on new areas of ties instead of looking into the immediate past or imminent future.
This was revealed in a report by the task force on ‘India and Bangladesh: Moving towards Convergence’ released on Friday at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). The exhaustive report was authored by IDSA scholars Dr Arvind Gupta, Dr Anand Kumar, Dr Smruti Pattanaik, Dr Sreeradha Datta and Dr Ashok Behuria. Forward of the report was written by Director General of IDSA NS Sisodia.
The report recommends that the two sides should explore new areas of cooperation on climate change, science and technology, IT and communication, space, medicine and health, disaster management, food and energy security. At the same time old issues like fencing, boundary demarcation and exchange of enclaves should also be fully settled during the visit itself, it added.
The 98-page report deals with whole array of issues including the security scenario, handing over of militants, the problem of illegal migration, demarcation of land boundary to domestic developments in Bangladesh, recent trends in the neighbouring country’s foreign policy.
The Task Force also made 18 recommendations which include suggestions that India should persuade Bangladesh to acknowledge the problem of illegal migration. Both sides should try to create an environment where this issue can be amicably settled, it said.
India has offered a reasonable package to finalise the 6.5-km un-demarcated border issue and this should be accepted by Bangladesh, the report said. The report acknowledges that Bangladesh had its own list of grievances. It resented the large imbalance in bilateral trade, lack of progress on water sharing issues, non-ratification of Indira-Mujib Land Boundary Agreement. Bangladesh also protested against India’s allegations that it was providing sanctuary to ULFA insurgents.
As per the report, Bangladesh sees India as an unreliable partner. India looms large in Bangladesh’s threat perception. But this is mostly due to geography rather than history since Bangladesh which was liberated with the massive man and material help of India is surrounded by the big brother from all three sides.
Some sections of the Bangladeshi elite perceive India as a threat especially since the military came to power after Mujib’s assassination. The fact that Bangladesh is surrounded by India on all the three sides creates a natural apprehension in the minds of the Bangladeshis that any external threat has to emanate from India.
This feeling has been accentuated by the mistrust that exists between the two countries. In view of this threat perception, Bangladesh has sourced most of its weapons from China and built all major infrastructures with the help of that country, the report said.
However, lately Bangladesh is realising that the non-military challenges that the country is facing are far more overwhelming than the perceived conventional threat posed by India. Bangladesh has taken steps to address India’s security concerns and handed over several top Northeast-based militants to New Delhi which was not done ever before, the authors of the report said.
India on its part has shown sensitivity to Bangladeshi concerns and come out with a comprehensive assistance and cooperation package for Bangladesh. These moves have created the environment for transformation of India-Bangladesh ties, they said.
But the significance of strong India-Bangladesh ties should go beyond the bilateral context. Good relations between India and Bangladesh will have positive influence not only in both the countries but also in entire region like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand who will benefit from trade and transit connectivity between India and Bangladesh, the scholars added.
But at the same time the report cautioned against complacency. The positive momentum in bilateral relations generated during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit must be continued and the two sides must ensure that implementation of the 2010 joint communiqué is accelerated, it added.