The India-Bangladesh relations got a major boost after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared to support the land-boundary agreement with the neighbouring nation.
Analysis
The India-Bangladesh relations got a major boost after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared to support the land-boundary agreement with the neighbouring nation. The agreement, signed during former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, has been waiting for ratification by the Indian parliament. Banerjee’s declaration has brightened the prospect of the ratification now.
Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his intention of formalising the agreement. Still, some scepticism prevailed as Banerjee was opposing the same and the bill could not be passed in the last parliament due to objection raised by her party, the Trinamool Congress.
The land-boundary between the two nations is 4,096-km long, and runs through five Indian states — West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The border is extremely porous and lacks natural boundaries. Most of the disputes between the two countries is a legacy of the colonial past and was done in a most abrupt manner that distorted the natural economic channels of the region. Major disputes include the demarcation of 6.5 km of the boundary, exchange of enclaves (111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh territory and 54 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India) and land in adverse-possession. Ratification of the land boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh will resolve all the boundary disputes between the two countries.
Point of irritant
Delay in ratification of the agreement has emerged as a major point of irritant between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been urging India to resolve the agreement for a long time. Slow progress in ratification of the agreement had made the rhetoric against India louder. The feeling had been that they had been cheated of their due because the popular sentiment is that by forwarding security cooperation with India, the country has contributed in normalising the conflict situation in Northeast India.
Resolution of the boundary dispute will improve trade and connectivity with India, which in a way would contribute to the economic progress of the region. Again, in Bangladesh its relationship with India is often judged from the prism of the loss and gains. Once this agreement is ratified, Bangladesh will gain some 17,160 acres compared to India 7110 acres of land perceived to be a major addition.
The declarations by both Modi and Benarjee have greatly changed public perception in Bangladesh regarding India. In spite of substantial progress of the bilateral relationship in past few years, the public perception in Bangladesh was not very favourable to India. The popular perception was that India is not serious about its relationship with Bangladesh. The reason for such a sentiment was largely because of the non-ratification of the agreement.
The ratification of the land boundary agreement by India will help in bringing back the warmth between the two countries. This agreement will prepare a positive ground for the Indian Prime Minister Modi to visit Bangladesh, the country which is crucial for India’s connectivity with South East Asia and for the development of India’s north-eastern states.
(The writer is a Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Delhi)
Bhutan: Connectivity with Bangladesh
Mihir Bhonsale
The land-locked Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has the opportunity of boosting its ties with SAARC neighbour Bangladesh, as never before, with the Heads of State meeting in the first week of December. Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay would be visiting Bangladesh on an invitation from her Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
An expected outcome of this visit would be the renewal of the bilateral trade agreement between the two countries for a 10 year period. Bhutan is also likely to discuss her access to Bangla seaports and airports, facilitating foreign trade and boosting her domestic economy.
Economic relations
Cooperation between Bhutan and Bangladesh is today more than three decades old, it began with the signing of the bilateral trade agreement between the two countries in 1980. India had agreed to allow its rail and road network for Bhutan-Bangladesh trade. The port of Chittagong served as a transit for land-locked Bhutan’s foreign trade.
Under the agreement duty free access to Bangladeshi products was granted in Bhutan and Bangladesh in turn imposed a 50 percent of normal duty on Bhutan’s exports. Bangladesh has become the largest export market for Bhutanese goods in terms of hard currency.
Today, Bhutan wants to use Chittagong and Mongla seaports and Chittagong and Dhaka airports of Bangladesh and wants to open five new land customs stations under a new protocol on transit between the two countries. Both countries are eager to renew the transit agreement that lapsed in 2000 after being in operation for two decades.
Bhutan’s trade with Bangladesh stood at over US $ 22 million in 2010-11. Bangladesh exports to Bhutan include items like ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, melamine, toilet soap, dry food, fruit juice and mineral water. Products like fresh fruits, paper and paper boards, crushed stones, coffee and spices are exported to Bangladesh by Bhutan.
Tourism is another area of potential intensifying economic ties between the two countries. With a private sector delegation of Bhutan set to visit Bangladesh with the Prime Minister Tobgay, agro-processing and tourism would remain the main industries for pushing growth in trade between the two countries.
Trade in electricity
Bhutan’s huge green power potential has drawn the attention of energy-deficit Bangladesh. Bangladesh is keen to tap the hydropower potential of Bhutan. The recently sealed SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation in Kathmandu has come as a blessing for Bhutan to trade in electricity with Bangladesh.
Bhutan has already had a connection with Bangladesh and the recently concluded SAARC agreement would facilitate regional grids connecting Bangladesh and Bhutan through India. Bhutan’s commitment to energy needs of India would remain but Bangladesh would like to partner with Bhutan to jointly harness potential of 25,000 MW total hydropower capacity of the Himalayan nation.
With hydropower cooperation with Bangladesh, Thimphu would benefit as it would to some extent move away from reliance on India to develop its huge resources and earn revenue by selling power. However, Thimphu needs to expedite commitments with India before entering into new agreements with Bangladesh.
Regional connectivity
Connectivity between the SAARC nations of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal through road and rail links has been proposed. In the recently concluded SAARC Summit, the Motor Vehicles agreement and Regional Railways agreements were pushed through. However, it might have not been reached in the summit, but the commitment remains.
India remains a crucial country for giving transit to trade between the Himalayan nations Bhutan and Nepal and Bangladesh. There are several proposed routes connecting through rail and roadways especially connecting border points. But, there is need to expedite such projects.
The ironing out of differences between India and Bangladesh, for example the land-boundary agreement have come as a welcome step over the future of rail and road linkages, promoting better connectivity.
The in operation integrated check-post on the Agartala-Akhaura, one among the seven upgraded border check-posts on the Indo-Bangla border for smoother movement of goods and people could serve as a model for emulation in the region.
However, connectivity projects should not just be kept limited to the SAARC-level. Bilateral and sub-regional rail, road and air links must be expedited. The meeting between the Prime Ministers of Bhutan and Bangladesh is going to have such an effect, it can be hoped.
(The writer is a Research Assistant at the Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata).
Country Reports
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Apart from long-time allies like the US, the UK and Germany, countries like China and Kazakhstan also pledged to provide long-term assistance to Afghanistan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani assured the international dignitaries that the necessary reforms would be brought about in Afghanistan. However, he and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, in a joint press briefing after the conference, emphasised on the need for peace and security in the country for there to be any long-term development.
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