Bangladesh-India relationship: Transit and other national issues
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Badrul Islam
Newspaper reports say that the government will allow India one-time transit to Tripura as a 'test case'. This is a dangerous proposition. The Farakka Barrage, which was supposedly a test case for three weeks, continues to cause misery to Bangladesh for over three decades. Another test case may prove to be too bitter a pill to swallow.
While connectivity among the peoples of the two countries, and indeed the entire region, is imperative in order to bring about a more cohesive integration of the subcontinent and has substantial advantages, it certainly cannot be done at the cost of an individual country's strategic, political and economic interests, threatening its sovereignty.
The route of the Asian Highway is yet to be decided. It, however, appears that the government is all but ready to submit to tacit Indian pressure to agree to a route that would not increase Bangladesh's wider connectivity but provide India with a transit of sorts as both the entry and exit points of the two of the three proposed routes would be through India.
There is a lack of transparency in the bilateral negotiations between the two governments. The people are not sure whether the interest of Bangladesh will be protected. They are not being informed about the status of outstanding issues like SAFTA and SAPTA, reduction in non-tariff, para-tariff and tariff barriers for Bangladesh products to be exported to India, removing barriers to Bangladeshi investment, making the Joint Rivers Commission functional, mitigating the adverse effets of the Farakka Barrage and transit to Bhutan and Nepal through India.
The government of India may be asked: how did they, prior to the independence of Bangladesh, solve the communication, administrative and economic problems of Tripura and Arunachal (the seven sister states)? And why doesn't India feel that there could be security threats to Bangladesh when it wants transit through approximately 600 miles of Bangladesh territory to Arunachal and use of Ashuganj port plus Akhaura-Tripura 31-km road connection when both areas are hot beds of insurgency?
Learning diplomacy: Here is an example of good strategic diplomacy that will help Bangladesh to negotiate with India. Prior to her decision to help Bangladesh during its war of independence, Indira Gandhi made a 20-year-year treaty with the Soviet Union (now, Russia) which guaranteed Soviet economic, political and military assistance to India in the event of India joining the war . In spite of this treaty Indira Gandhi didn't compromise the basic principles of Indian foreign policy. She made it clear that Soviet Union would not receive any special privileges and emphasised the nonexclusive nature of its friendship with the Soviet Union. India kept open the way for normalising relations with China and improving its ties with the West.
Our government leaders should also learn how to retain and improve friendship with neighbours through diplomacy and without granting special privileges to them that could be detrimental to our own interest.
One-time transit to Tripura: Newspaper reports say that Bangladesh has agreed in principle to allow India to use its waterways to transport heavy machineries for India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) upcoming 740-MW power project in Tripura. This gas-based project, the biggest ever of ONGC, is coming up in south Tripura's Palatana and is expected to be operational by 2012. Tripura's chief secretary, Shashi Prakash, said if necessary India was ready to provide Rs. 100 million to Dhaka to improve the poor road (linking Agartala) on the Bangladesh side. He added, "Dhaka and New Delhi are now considering adding Ashuganj as the ninth port of call for easy transport of Indian goods from other parts of the country to the land-locked north-eastern region through Bangladesh."
How will the Rs. 100 million be given -- as direct payment or as loan to Bangladesh to be paid back with interest? What would be the terms and condition of the use of the Ashuganj river port by India? It is imperative to obtain from the Indian government full explanations on all these points before any agreement is signed on the so-called one-time transit to Tripura.
The dispute over maritime boundary: The most important issue in the bilateral relations of the two countries is that of maritime boundary. Will friendly India support Bangladesh claim to settle the issue on the principles of equity rather than on the principles of equidistance, which both India and Myanmar are favouring?
Bangladesh has opted for UN arbitration on its dispute with India and Myanmar over the delimitation of the maritime boundary. Foley Hoaq has been retained by Bangladesh to plead its case. Paul Reichler of Foley Hoaq says, "Unfortunately, negotiations have been deadlocked for years, leaving international arbitration as the only way for Bangladesh to achieve peaceful and lawful resolutions of this maritime boundary issue, and definitive borders that will ultimately allow it to access natural resources that will benefit the Bangladeshi people." Neither India nor Myanmar has yet responded to the arbitration notifications, which were filed by Bangladesh on October 8, 2009. They have 30 days to respond. Reichler further says that arbitration of this type can take up to 3 to 4 years from the initial notification to final decision. In addition to Reichler, Bangladesh is also represented by Foley Hoaq partners Lawrence Martin and Andrew Loewenstein, as well as Professor James Crawford of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and Professor Payam Akhavan of McGill University in Canada.
Border situation: Prior to independence, Bangladesh was the eastern part of Pakistan and due to poor relations with Pakistan as a whole, India used to consider East Pakistan, though enjoying the "Bengali affiliation" with West Bengal, as a security threat. But even then India did not erect fence on the border and border skirmishes or incident of Indian border guards shooting civilians were very rare. What does prompt the Indian authorities now to fence its entire border with Bangladesh side when it says Bangladesh is a friendly country? Why does the BSF kill innocent civilians and engage in skirmishes with the BDR? The BSF shot dead 53 Bangladesh nationals from January to September this year, Home Minister Sahara Khatun told parliament on October 12.
Determining public opinion and reaching a national consensus are a must before the government signs any agreement with India to grant it one-time transit to Tripura as 'a test case'.
(The writer is a freelancer. He previously worked for Foreign Chatered Coasters Administration, BIWTA and for various agencies of the United Nations in Bangladesh, Somalia and Uganda. He can be reached at bislam66@gamil.com)
Newspaper reports say that the government will allow India one-time transit to Tripura as a 'test case'. This is a dangerous proposition. The Farakka Barrage, which was supposedly a test case for three weeks, continues to cause misery to Bangladesh for over three decades. Another test case may prove to be too bitter a pill to swallow.
While connectivity among the peoples of the two countries, and indeed the entire region, is imperative in order to bring about a more cohesive integration of the subcontinent and has substantial advantages, it certainly cannot be done at the cost of an individual country's strategic, political and economic interests, threatening its sovereignty.
The route of the Asian Highway is yet to be decided. It, however, appears that the government is all but ready to submit to tacit Indian pressure to agree to a route that would not increase Bangladesh's wider connectivity but provide India with a transit of sorts as both the entry and exit points of the two of the three proposed routes would be through India.
There is a lack of transparency in the bilateral negotiations between the two governments. The people are not sure whether the interest of Bangladesh will be protected. They are not being informed about the status of outstanding issues like SAFTA and SAPTA, reduction in non-tariff, para-tariff and tariff barriers for Bangladesh products to be exported to India, removing barriers to Bangladeshi investment, making the Joint Rivers Commission functional, mitigating the adverse effets of the Farakka Barrage and transit to Bhutan and Nepal through India.
The government of India may be asked: how did they, prior to the independence of Bangladesh, solve the communication, administrative and economic problems of Tripura and Arunachal (the seven sister states)? And why doesn't India feel that there could be security threats to Bangladesh when it wants transit through approximately 600 miles of Bangladesh territory to Arunachal and use of Ashuganj port plus Akhaura-Tripura 31-km road connection when both areas are hot beds of insurgency?
Learning diplomacy: Here is an example of good strategic diplomacy that will help Bangladesh to negotiate with India. Prior to her decision to help Bangladesh during its war of independence, Indira Gandhi made a 20-year-year treaty with the Soviet Union (now, Russia) which guaranteed Soviet economic, political and military assistance to India in the event of India joining the war . In spite of this treaty Indira Gandhi didn't compromise the basic principles of Indian foreign policy. She made it clear that Soviet Union would not receive any special privileges and emphasised the nonexclusive nature of its friendship with the Soviet Union. India kept open the way for normalising relations with China and improving its ties with the West.
Our government leaders should also learn how to retain and improve friendship with neighbours through diplomacy and without granting special privileges to them that could be detrimental to our own interest.
One-time transit to Tripura: Newspaper reports say that Bangladesh has agreed in principle to allow India to use its waterways to transport heavy machineries for India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) upcoming 740-MW power project in Tripura. This gas-based project, the biggest ever of ONGC, is coming up in south Tripura's Palatana and is expected to be operational by 2012. Tripura's chief secretary, Shashi Prakash, said if necessary India was ready to provide Rs. 100 million to Dhaka to improve the poor road (linking Agartala) on the Bangladesh side. He added, "Dhaka and New Delhi are now considering adding Ashuganj as the ninth port of call for easy transport of Indian goods from other parts of the country to the land-locked north-eastern region through Bangladesh."
How will the Rs. 100 million be given -- as direct payment or as loan to Bangladesh to be paid back with interest? What would be the terms and condition of the use of the Ashuganj river port by India? It is imperative to obtain from the Indian government full explanations on all these points before any agreement is signed on the so-called one-time transit to Tripura.
The dispute over maritime boundary: The most important issue in the bilateral relations of the two countries is that of maritime boundary. Will friendly India support Bangladesh claim to settle the issue on the principles of equity rather than on the principles of equidistance, which both India and Myanmar are favouring?
Bangladesh has opted for UN arbitration on its dispute with India and Myanmar over the delimitation of the maritime boundary. Foley Hoaq has been retained by Bangladesh to plead its case. Paul Reichler of Foley Hoaq says, "Unfortunately, negotiations have been deadlocked for years, leaving international arbitration as the only way for Bangladesh to achieve peaceful and lawful resolutions of this maritime boundary issue, and definitive borders that will ultimately allow it to access natural resources that will benefit the Bangladeshi people." Neither India nor Myanmar has yet responded to the arbitration notifications, which were filed by Bangladesh on October 8, 2009. They have 30 days to respond. Reichler further says that arbitration of this type can take up to 3 to 4 years from the initial notification to final decision. In addition to Reichler, Bangladesh is also represented by Foley Hoaq partners Lawrence Martin and Andrew Loewenstein, as well as Professor James Crawford of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and Professor Payam Akhavan of McGill University in Canada.
Border situation: Prior to independence, Bangladesh was the eastern part of Pakistan and due to poor relations with Pakistan as a whole, India used to consider East Pakistan, though enjoying the "Bengali affiliation" with West Bengal, as a security threat. But even then India did not erect fence on the border and border skirmishes or incident of Indian border guards shooting civilians were very rare. What does prompt the Indian authorities now to fence its entire border with Bangladesh side when it says Bangladesh is a friendly country? Why does the BSF kill innocent civilians and engage in skirmishes with the BDR? The BSF shot dead 53 Bangladesh nationals from January to September this year, Home Minister Sahara Khatun told parliament on October 12.
Determining public opinion and reaching a national consensus are a must before the government signs any agreement with India to grant it one-time transit to Tripura as 'a test case'.
(The writer is a freelancer. He previously worked for Foreign Chatered Coasters Administration, BIWTA and for various agencies of the United Nations in Bangladesh, Somalia and Uganda. He can be reached at bislam66@gamil.com)