It’s time for South Asia and the new government is resolutely pushing ahead with its “neighbours first” policy as India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj heads on her first stand-alone foreign visit to Dhaka June 25-27.
The choice of Bangladesh, a country with whom India shares nearly 4,000-km long border, is significant in many ways and reinforces the primacy of neighbourhood in India’s foreign policy calculus, which was visible from the imaginative gesture of the Modi government to invite leaders of SAARC countries for the oath-taking ceremony of India’s new prime minister. On that occasion, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a well-regarded friend of India, could not make it to the inauguration due to prior travel engagements, but sent the Speaker of the Bangladesh parliament, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, to New Delhi. In his brief meeting with the speaker, Prime Minister Modi had underlined shared stakes in each other’s progress and prosperity and alluded to strong bilateral relations “rooted in shared struggle, history, culture and language.” He also underscored commitment of the “Government of India in maintaining and building upon the momentum that has characterised India-Bangladesh relations in recent years,” as Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said in a briefing after the prime minister’s talks with the leaders of SAARC countries May 27.
Now, with India’s foreign minister’s visit, the momentum in India-Bangladesh relations that the prime minister spoke about looks set to acquire an added force. The primary focus during Ms Swaraj’s trip will be on deepening the India-Bangladesh development partnership, which has emerged as a dominant win-win facet of this multi-layered relationship in the last few years. India had pledged $1 billion in Lines of Credit, the largest ever one-time bilateral grant India has given to any country, to Bangladesh during the historic visit of Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi in January 2010. The historic trip by Bangladesh’s leader, known for her unwavering friendship and robust commitment to nurturing ties with India, opened a new chapter in bilateral ties, and was followed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s substantive visit to Bangladesh in September 2011. President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Dhaka in 2013 on his first overseas visit after occupying the exalted office further reinforced the tradition of high-level exchanges to replenish and rejuvenate this critical partnership.
Development Partners
Barely four years down the line after the 1 billion LOC was unveiled, a substantial portion has already been used on a host of infrastructure projects, including railway infrastructure, supply of broad gauge microprocessor-based locomotives and passenger coaches, procurement of buses, and dredging projects. Out of US$ 200 million grant, $150 million grant has also been released to Bangladesh in three installments for utilization in projects of priority to Bangladesh. Another important aspect of the India-Bangladesh developmental partnership is joint collaboration in small development projects. These projects are being funded through Indian grant casino online assistance, not exceeding taka 250 million per project and encompass diverse areas, including livelihood activity, education, health, or community development. The underlying ethos animating these India-aided development projects is the transformation of the lives of ordinary Bangladeshis, with primary focus on conservation of the environment, empowerment of women and child welfare. In social sector, the two countries are exploring new avenues of cooperation in environment, health and fisheries.
Enriching Ties
Bilateral trade and investment have been on an upswing, enhancing the constituency of peace and friendship between the two subcontinental neighbours. Trade has surpassed US$ 5 billion per annum, with the duty free access given by India to Bangladesh for all items except 25. Innovative steps like opening of border markets – two border haats are already operational with a few more coming up along the India-Bangladesh border – has brought people living in border areas in closer economic embrace. Another good news story is unfolding in the area of investment: Indian companies are betting big on the Bangladesh opportunity with Indian companies like Airtel, CEAT and Marico scaling up investments in Bangladesh. In this context, the signing of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection agreement was a game-changer of sorts.
Powering Ahead
The power sector also promises to fructify myriad win-win opportunities. Setting an example in the subcontinent, India and Bangladesh have forged inter-grid connectivity for the flow of bulk power from India to Bangladesh. A 400 KV line constructed by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh in the Eastern sector–Baharampur in India to Bheramara in Bangladesh with the load capacity of 500 MW has already been established. The leading power companies of the two countries, NTPC Ltd. of India and Bangladesh Power development Board (BPDB), signed a pact on Aug 30, 2010 to set up a 1320 MW (2×660 MW) coal-based power project using super critical technology. The 50:50 joint venture project is being implemented by Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Renewable energy, with focus on solar, wind and bio energy, is also rapidly emerging as an important area of synergy.
Connectivity
Spurring connectivity between India and Bangladesh and the larger region beyond is poised to get sustained diplomatic attention in days to come. The re-launch of Maitreyee Express (Friendship Train( in 2008, which revived a 43-year-old rail link, was a milestone of sorts, and underscored the ongoing drive for greater geographical and economic integration. Bangladesh is critical to promoting greater connectivity to India’s north-eastern states and linking them to Southeast Asia. In this context, Bangladesh has agreed to provide transit facility through Ashuganj port for transportation of heavy duty equipment for ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC)’s 727 MW gas-based project located at Palatana in Tripura. Last year, Dhaka agreed to transport 10,000 tonnes of foodgrains for Tripura through the Bangladeshi territory. India, on its part, has provided 24×7 access across Tin Bigha to Bangladeshi residents in the enclaves of Dahagram and Angarpota.
Strategy and Security
Moving beyond the twinned realms of economy and development, the India-Bangladesh ties are rapidly acquiring a strategic character. In this context, the talks between the foreign ministers of India and Bangladesh this week are expected to explore the contours of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that could upgrade the burgeoning relationship to a new level. The security and counter-terror cooperation has been increasing in the last few years, with the Sheikh Hasina government promptly acting against anti-India insurgents holed up in the Bangladesh territory, earning much appreciation from New Delhi. India and Bangladesh have signed a clutch of counter-terror pacts and a landmark extradition treaty which reflect greater strategic trust and comfort level between the two countries. Amid reports of radical Islamist group spreading their tentacles in Bangladesh, the security partnership looks set to grow in months to come.
The Way Ahead
Against this larger canvas of multi-dimensional India-Bangladesh relationship, the three-day visit of Sushma Swaraj promises to be symbolic as well as substantive. By choosing Dhaka as her first foreign trip, the foreign minister has already sent a compelling signal to deepen and solidify the ongoing transformation in India-Bangladesh relations, which has been enriched by multi-faceted cultural interactions and the legacies of sage-poets, Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam. India is seeking to position itself as a reliable partner of Bangladesh in its quest to become an economic dynamo of the region as outlined by Sheikh Hasina in her Vision 2021 document which seeks to create a middle-income country by 2021, the milestone year that will mark Bangladesh’s 50 years of independence. Dhaka, on its part, will be looking for concrete assurances on New Delhi’s part to go ahead with the signing of the Teesta river treaty and the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement – the two pacts whose deferral due to political compulsions has given fodder to critics of India in Bangladesh and has affected the momentum in bilateral ties in the last few months of the previous Indian government. The Bangladesh political elite is now looking with renewed hope at the new Modi government to free up India-Bangladesh ties from the vagaries of politics and take this multi-hued relationship into a higher trajectory. And the new dispensation in New Delhi is eager to ensure that the friendship train between the two countries continues on its onward march. In this journey, there are no full stops.
(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story. Follow him on twitter@scepticcryptic).
Author Profile
- Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.
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