The Indo-Bangladesh relationship has been fraught with tensions in the past. But Khurshed Alam and Mubashar Hasan highlight how Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pragmatic approach to relations with India have resulted in significant improvements in the last five years. Further breakthroughs, for example on water sharing, are expected from Modi’s visit to Dhaka this weekend

Alam, Khurshed

Hasan, Mubashar

LSE Research Online

2015-6-3Progress through pragmatism in the Indo-Banglarelationshipblogs.lse.ac.uk /southasia/2015/06/03/progress-through-pragmatism-in-the-indo-bangla-relationship/The Indo-Bangladesh relationship has been fraught with tensions in the past. But Khurshed Alam andMubashar Hasan highlight how Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pragmatic approachto relations with India have resulted in significant improvements in the last five years. Furtherbreakthroughs, for example on water sharing, are expected from Modi’s visit to Dhaka thisweekend.The relationship between India and Bangladesh has long been characterised by contradiction andcooperation. Relations have tended to fluctuate depending on the attitude of the governments in therespective countries. For example, when Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was in power in2001-2006 the Indian side alleged that Bangladesh was harboring anti-Indian elements seen topose a threat to Indian national security. This resulted in a deterioration of relations that was equallycounterproductive to Bangladesh’s security.The unique geographical location of both India and Bangladesh suggests that a pragmaticapproach to diplomatic and political co-operation between these two countries is vital for the boostof regional trade and security. On top of this, Bangladesh antagonisms towards India and vice versa are petty andhave the potential to threaten South Asian stability. Bangladesh’s geographical position currently enables it to benefitfrom trade and partnerships with both Asia and the West but Indo-Bangla cooperation will be central to continuing toreap economic and other benefits in the future.By Narendra Modi (PM meets Heads of State of SAARC nations) CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina has sought to adopt a more conciliatory tone than manyof her predecessors and relations between the neighboring countries have been improving since her state visit toNew Delhi in 2010. For example, Indian exports have more than doubled over the past five years, from $2.7 billionin 2008-09 to $6.1 billion in 2013-14. Bangladeshi exports to India has grown from USD $274.26 to USD $456.633in 2013-14 (a 166.5% rise).Co-operation between both countries now also expanded into a trade corridor. The Indian Trade corridor will allow1/3Bangladesh to use Indian roads, waterways and railways to trade with Nepal and Bhutan.  India gains the same rightto use Bangladeshi roads, waterways and railways, which will facilitate its trade with Myanmar. Such status ofconnectivity and cooperation is significant and encouraging for the ongoing dialogue regarding establishment of themore ambitious Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor.There have also been significant developments in energy sharing. In 2010 Bangladesh and India struck a 35 yearelectricity sharing deal. Under this deal, the government of Bangladesh is importing 500MW electricity from Indiaand there is a provision in the agreement that will allow Bangladesh to export power to India in future. Governmentsin both countries are now considering facilitating cross-border private sector partnership in the power sector. Public-private partnership in energy sharing is set to contribute positively in economic growth of both countries.As Bangladesh separates India’s north-eastern states from the rest of the country, Sheikh Hasina has extended hersupport to India to reduce its cost of trade between south and north-east. For example, exporting internet bandwidthfrom Bangladesh, and provide limited transit and transhipment to Indian vehicles carrying trade goods usingBangladesh’s land and water. These goodwill gestures have come under fire her opposition at home for offeringconcessions without negotiating specific returns.One of the biggest breakthroughs has been the passing of the latest 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) in theIndian parliament last month. Even though it is regrettable that it took 41 years for India to pass this bill it is a goodsign that Indo-Bangla relationship is on the way to overcoming the trust deficit. According to a Bangladeshicommentator, Delhi has to take responsibility for the delay on the LBA to date since the progress has beenobstructed on the Indian side by “court cases against the LBA, opposition from state governments and of coursepower politics in Delhi.” The agreement is highly significant as about 50,000 people who were previously statelessand in enclaves are now set to get citizenship and access to the associated benefits. This marks a remarkable andlife changing moment for thousands of people who have been living in limbo for decades.Notwithstanding this progress, many challenges remain. The potential of bilateral trade is enormous: theConfederation of Indian Industries (CII) estimates the “bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh could almostdouble to USD 10 billion by 2018” but adds the caveat “provided trading irritants like non-tariff barriers andinfrastructure related-issues are resolved”. However, if India continues to insist on non-tariff barriers it is unlikely thispotential will be realised. India needs to simplify existing bureaucratic complexities and a lack of coordination withinvarious ministries which at times lead to conflicting rules around importing goods from Bangladesh. Trade would alsobe facilitated by eased visa restrictions for Bangladeshi traders.Previously, India had accused Bangladesh of exporting and supporting terrorism to India. Sheikh Hasina’sgovernment has taken a constructive approach to addressing India’s security concerns. Since 2010 the twocountries have agreed on key security protocols, which enabled an exchange of prisoners and have helped to fostera more coordinated approach to combating terrorism and drug trafficking.  Still Sheikh Hasina faces criticism athome as in the eyes of the opposition she turns out to be too India friendly without securing enough for Bangladesh.The sense that Bangladesh is not getting enough concessions is largely due to India’s nationalist stance on issuessuch as border protection and water sharing from joint rivers. In the mid-80s India built an eight-feet tall barbed wirefence covering roughly about 70% of India’s 2,544-mile border with Bangladesh to prevent illegal migration,smuggling and drug trafficking. The remaining 620 miles of the border shares joint rivers and is patrolled by borderguards of India and Bangladesh. Furthermore, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) currently has a shoot-to-killpolicy currently in place, which has been a major source of anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh. Due to the chronicpoverty in the border area many people still cross the border illegally and the combination has led to 900Bangladeshi deaths and many more injured and tortured, according to a 2010 report by Human Rights Watch.Despite repeated protests from Bangladesh, no significant action has been taken and in the first three months of2015, 18 Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF. A more diplomatic approach to this problem on the Indian side wouldlend more popular support to Hasina’s policy of pragmatism.2/3Similarly, competition around water from the 57 rivers that the two countries share remains a sticking point. TheBangladeshis blame India for placing dams and barrages on joint rivers and accused India for manipulating waterflows during crop cultivating season. The arguments for India to compromise on this issue are not just diplomatic butenvironmental, as there are serious concerns around deforestation and erosion in the upper Ganges. Unfortunately,as with the LBA, progress on this issues has been hindered by internal political conflict in India which, for example,prevented former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reach to an agreement with Bangladesh around watersharing of Teesta river in 2011. However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has indicated she is willingto compromise and Modi is expected to announce an agreement on this issue when he visits Dhaka this weekend.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the South Asia @ LSE blog, nor of theLondon School of Economics. Please read ourcomments policy before posting.About the AuthorsDr Khurshed Alam  is the Chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust Mubashar Hasan is a research fellow of BISR Trust and a PhD Candidate at the School ofGovernment and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia. He is the founder ofalochonaa.com, a politics, culture and IR blog, and tweets @mubashardhaka.Copyright © 2016 London School of Economics3/3

Progress through pragmatism in the Indo-Bangla relationship

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