Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Dhaka
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Dhaka on August 7 should not be considered only in terms of the $1 billion loan agreement signed. The visit is perceived as important mainly for two reasons:
- It was the first visit from a senior Indian minister and an eminent Congress leader after the Bangladesh prime minister's landmark trip to New Delhi in January;
- The visit has provided an opportunity to review the implementation of the actions proposed in the Joint Communique released after the visit on January 13.
The immediate purpose, however, was to witness the signing of the $1 billion loan by India to Bangladesh for 14 projects related to infrastructure, river dredging within Bangladesh and power transmission from India.
At the signing ceremony, Mr. Mukherjee reportedly said: "The credit is the largest ever amount given by India to any country. I am confident that this credit line will be the stepping stone for a shared destiny and will transform our bilateral engagement."
Bangladesh Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith reportedly said that the size of the credit was more than double the assistance Bangladesh received from India over the last 40 years and that "India's assistance in improving the railway infrastructure will facilitate Bangladesh's transit to Bhutan and Nepal."
During the brief visit, the Indian finance minister met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and it has been reported that the issue of quick implementation of some of the issues covered in the joint communique was discussed.
It may be recalled that the visit of Bangladesh prime minister to New Delhi this year ushered in a new era of opportunity in bilateral relations and put in place a comprehensive framework of cooperation in all possible areas.
Although the credit line is substantially for establishing interconnectivity, many economists believe interconnectivity through multimodal transport with India should not be seen as a bilateral matter. It will have impact on South Asia and beyond the region.
Foreign investors from Asean, Japan, South Korea and China, besides Western countries, will see a great opportunity to invest in Bangladesh for markets within the region and beyond.
Furthermore, interconnectivity is also to be perceived as a service industry, which constitutes a big component for any modern economy, and Bangladesh can use its potential as a service industry through interconnectivity.
It is noted that although extensive discussions are taking place at the government-to-government level on bilateral issues, the public in Bangladesh want results on the ground. The general perception among people is that the implementation in the areas agreed at the highest political level has been painfully slow on matters that are of interest to Bangladesh.
While India gives top priority to transit facilities through Bangladesh to northeastern India and denial of sanctuary for Indian insurgents in Bangladesh, Bangladesh's top priority rests on water sharing with, and water management for, common rivers (54 rivers flow into Bangladesh from India), implementation of land border agreement of 1974 and duty and hassle-free access of Bangladesh's products to India's market.
With regard to bilateral trade, both countries agreed "to address removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers," and that border haats (markets) would be established in selected areas -- including the Meghalayan border.
Bangladesh wanted to open the border haat on Bangladesh-Meghalaya border on April 14 (1st day of Bengali Year) but could not. Recently, the Bangladesh commerce minister expressed his disappointment at the delay in establishing border haats and removing tariff and non-tariff barriers
People expected that an-adhoc water sharing accord on the Teesta River would have been concluded by this time. They also thought that no Bangladeshi national would be killed because it was agreed that the respective border guards would "exercise restraint" to prevent loss of lives but, as of mid July, 101 Bangladeshi nationals had been killed by BSF. Furthermore, nothing tangible occurred with regard to the implementation of the 1974 Bangldesh-India Border Agreement.
As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding lies in the eating. Many Bangladesh people believe that India, with its vast resources and more than a trillion dollar, economy would be forthcoming in following the "Gujral doctrine," which means strict reciprocity is not intended for smaller neighbours, and whatever accommodation India is able to give it will provide without asking for reciprocity.
Regrettably, many in Bangladesh take India's promises with caution because, in the past, either the promises were not kept or were put into cold storage due to the federal-state bureaucratic maze in India,
In the book The Jamdani Revolution (2009), former Indian foreign secretary and high commissioner to Bangladesh, Krishnan Srinivasan, writes: "The political will and attention span have been lacking in New Delhi. In other words, the Indian government has tended to allow the hardliners and Hindu chauvinists to set the agenda for its policy towards Bangladesh, when a more rational approach would have been to come to some understandings on Dhaka's agenda."
We hope the visit of the Indian finance minister will bring benefits to the people of Bangladesh in facilitating the early implementation of core bilateral issues, and removal of the bureaucratic hurdles in India.
Finally, the state of Indo-Bangladesh relations has to be viewed in the context of public opinion in Bangladesh. Public opinion will be easily won over when benefits become evident from India's action on the ground. The sooner it happens the better it will be for promotion of bilateral relations.
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