The High Commissioners' Dhaka exercise
INDO-Bangladesh relationship never ceases to be interesting. There is always something exciting happening between the two neighbours that evinces considerable public attention. And in this regard there was a conclave in Dhaka of former high commissioners of the two countries who had represented their respective countries in the other's capital. It was the first of its kind
The 'firsts' are always welcome events. Particularly when that happens to be related to an exercise that deals with the state of Indo-BD relationship. The interlocutors were the practitioners of diplomacy engaged in the pursuit of enhancing their respective country's interests while trying to improve bilateral ties. While some of them were perhaps more successful than others it was good to see them revisiting the condition of the current Indo-Bangladesh relationship, and flagging the points that they felt needed to be addressed quickly to enhance bilateral relations. And unlike meeting of scholars they talked turkey and what the two countries should do to further strengthen bilateral relationship.
If India's relevance to Bangladesh is immense, a fact that no one in Bangladesh ever loses sight of, the fact is that to India Bangladesh is equally significant, if not more. This is a reality not lost upon the Indian policy makers either. But we wonder whether our policymakers have ever quite internalised the reality. For one thing we share the longest borders, much longer than Indo-Pak border and, regrettably, for a while this was the moist troublesome border, more than Indo-Pakistan. While many in Bangladesh rue the fact that it is India-locked, many Indian policy makers and scholars lament the fact that the entire Indian North-East is Bangla-locked.
Several issues emerged from the meeting, three of which we would like to flag here. It was not surprising to see that the high commissioners were fairly unanimous on the need for India to deliver on its commitment to reciprocate Bangladesh's action to address India's priority -- its security concerns. The commitments to Bangladesh relate to the LBA, sharing of the waters of common rivers and addressing the trust deficit.
Before one delves into what needs to be done to improve bilateral relationship, going into the trust deficit first will be in order. It was generally agreed that the greater responsibility must fall upon India for generating confidence and building trust. And trust building is inherently integral to India's delivering on its committment to Bangladesh. All other issues like cooperating in the areas of security to combat terrorism, economic integration, trade and investment are equally important but can proceed in full gear only when the two very crucial issues for Bangladesh -- the Land Boundary Agreement and finalising the Teesta water sharing treaty -- are addressed without further delay.
A question often asked among India watchers in Bangladesh is whether India will deliver, and, notwithstanding Delhi's willingness to fulfill its commitments, can it actually deliver, given that the factors influencing decision and further progress in these two issues are not quite entirely in the hands of the Indian government alone.
We are told that the Modi government is taking steps to bring the LBA to the parliament. On this issue the Manmohan government faced resistance not only from Mamata but also from the Assam BJP. That is understandable since implementing the LBA would involve ceding territory to Bangladesh. Reportedly, Mamata has relented on the LBA issue on the condition that persons living in Indian enclaves to be ceded to Bangladesh and willing to go to India are adequately compensated. The question is will the Assam BJP climb down from its stated position that the deal is a sellout?
On the sharing of waters of common rivers, the Teesta deal is still facing resistance from Mamata. However, an idea with regards to waters of common rivers has been bandied for quite sometime. And that emphasises more on 'management' of water rather than sharing of it. Management is a wide term and one wonders, given that more than fifty rivers that flow into Bangladesh flow down from India, what sort of management one is talking about? One can manage things when those are under one's control, and the waters of the common rivers are something that Bangladesh has no control on.
So, can India deliver? Some cynics pose a counter question -- does it have to? When India has got all that it wanted -- its security concerns addressed, and transit virtually given free -- why should it be in a hurry to meet Bangladesh's concerns?
While India may have gained many things from Bangladesh in the last six years, Indian leaders must not overlook the fact their country will lose on trust if they do not reciprocate in equal measure quickly.
The writer is Editor, Op-Ed and Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.
Comments