Crossing the 'Ts' carefully and in time

THE opposition has managed to create enough furore on the foreign policy issues articulated by the AL. The debates are a very healthy sign -- diverse opinions and views help inform the public on the take of different parties and groups and the pros and cons of a particular issue. However, some reports and commentaries have managed to confuse, if not downright mislead, the public. Objectivity has been sacrificed to project a particular line of thought; facts have been muddled up, either out of ignorance or as a deliberate attempt to fool. All those who hold the right to know the truth as inalienable and sacred would find this disconcerting.
Interestingly, all the major issues that have been hogging the headlines and the op-ed columns and the talk shows, start with "T" -- TIFA, transit, trade, and taskforce/terrorism. And it all had to do with two very important countries, one the lone superpower to whom even a "small" country like Bangladesh matters in the overall global strategic context, and the other our neighbour, whom we cannot do without and who cannot do without us.
And to add to the interest inspired by the debates we have had two very important visits in the course of less than three days, one of which was very high profile, by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian foreign minister, who also happens to be standing in for Dr. Manmohan Singh.
A very passionate discourse against TIFA had gone on before the arrival this week of Richard Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, the perception being that Bangladesh might be pressured into signing on the dotted line. There are very few details available for us to make a value judgment, but those who have more knowledge about this than most of us say that the arrangement will be counterproductive for US. Contrary to all expectations, we were told by Boucher that TIFA was not among the list of priorities of the new US administration.
But, for many, more surprising was US support for the idea of a regional anti-terror task force (ATTF), and its offer to enhance our maritime patrol capability. However, we don't know exactly what the specific areas are, in terms of enhancing surveillance capability of the maritime zone are, where help was sought, but one cannot imagine that joint patrolling is one of the options.
Rightly, there is strong resentment against any joint tasks with the US, particularly at a time when there is general perception about US attempt to dominate the globe directly and indirectly, and where local associates are likely to be seen as vassals. However, there is logic in acquiring technical assets that would help reinforce our coastguard resources.
Although the taskforce concept is still in a very nebulous state, one must consider carefully the type of help that US might provide. There is risk that goes with being a partner in the much-maligned US global war on terror. Any arrangement that marks us as its partner is likely to make us targets of the terrorists.
The two issues related to India that have predominated all others are transit and ATTF. They had featured in the bilateral talks, although not in the way some had expected.
It appeared from some of the newspaper reports appearing a few days before Pranab's visit that Bangladesh was all but ready to provide transit facility to India, and one Bangla daily even reported that the government had approved a water-road-rail transit agreement. One was not aware that such a concrete proposal was on the anvil. Providing transit was one of the provisos of the first trade agreement, which found mention in all the other subsequent agreements, but whose modalities are yet to be worked out.
The ATTF has perhaps engendered more debate that the others, and much blame must lie on the government for not coming up with a concrete idea as to what and how it sees the proposed task force work. As for the Indian response to the proposal, some see it as an out of hand rejection of the idea. That is not necessarily so.
Only a couple of weeks ago, writing in this very column on the issue of a regional ATTF, I had said the idea was good and one that should help in fulfilling the articles of Saarc agreements related to terrorism but, given the peculiar strategic orientation and geopolitical compulsion of the region, one may well ask how effective the proposed task force would be.
The Indian minister's statement, that sincerity was a sine qua non of fighting terrorism successfully, only underlined the reality of South Asia. However, reading between the lines, one notices a hint of a suggestion that India might be open to a bilateral arrangement.
All the "Ts" are of vital importance to us. It remains to be seen how well we can exploit these to our advantage. We must be guided by our national interest in addressing these issues. Cross the "Ts" carefully and in time.

The author is Editor, Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.