Not a gift but fulfilment of an agreement

Geographically, Bang-ladesh is located at a strategic point making the country important to regional powers in particular and big powers in  general. India's troubled north-east region is practically isolated from the rest of the country.
This has made India weak from security point of view. On the other hand, China's claim on major portion of Arunachal Pradesh of India, located near Bangladesh border, is a major irritant between India and China.
The conflict began between the two Asian giants over disputed border in the Himalayas where a Line of Actual Control (LAC) demarcates an effective boundary.
The LAC runs along the southern part of the Aksai Chin region where both India and China fought in 1962. The region lies between northern part of Sikkim state and northern part of Arunachal Pradesh.
Despite growing bilateral relations between India and China, the conflict between the two Asian giants persists. That has been reflected following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh in February, 2015.
The visit evoked sharp reaction from China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyun said, "We urge the Indian side to take  China's solemn concerns seriously".
On the other hand, India is concerned over expanded activities by China in the Indian Ocean. India is playing a strategic game, along with the United States, to thwart  Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal as well.
As a matter of fact, China has expanded its naval activities in Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Against this backdrop, it is unlikely that India is not concerned about the growing relations between Bangladesh and China.
This geopolitical scenario should be kept in mind while welcoming  the passage of the Land Boundary Bill in Indian Lok Sabha on May 07, 2015 which will make operational the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement  (LBA) between Bangladesh and India.
Incidentally, Bangladesh had ratified the accord the same year it was signed while the successive Indian governments did not ratify it on this or that pretext.
So, India is not favouring Bangladesh by ratifying the Land Boundary Agreement. That India took 41 years to ratify the LBA is a sad commentary on its good neighbourly behaviour.
During the last 41 years, the people in the enclaves in India and Bangladesh have remained stateless.
The exchange of more than 50 enclaves and demarcation of reportedly 6.5 kilometres of border remain unimplemented. These unresolved issues should be settled amicably.
Amending the Indian constitution and thus ratifying the LBA, India has corrected a lapse which was a sore in Bangladesh-India relations.
But the resolution of disputes over the sharing waters of trans-boundary rivers, including the Teesta, still remains to be accomplished.
The writer is a retired diplomat.
 amjad.21@gmail.com