Bangladesh-India Relations for Mutual Benefits and Progress

 

Connectivity and cooperation between Bangladesh and India are helping for peace, stability and progress of both the countries as well as the region. The connectivity and cooperation have been expanded not only in the traditional sectors of agriculture, trade, industry, education, health, culture, etc but also in space and ocean. During the last few decades the cooperation between Bangladesh and India helped to agree on Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord, implementation of Land Boundary agreement and solution of Maritime Boundary.

It may be mentioned that in the Indo-Pacific region China did not follow the rules of UNO regarding sea and ocean; and always creating problems in this region as well as in the South China Sea. Because land and maritime boundary and CHT agreement are there Bangladesh can easily plan and develop its own territory peacefully.

Energy is playing a vital role in economic development. We talked about energy cooperation regionally. We are already getting power from India and now power from Nepal will also be transmitted through the power grids of India. Power generation from renewable and non-renewable sources will help the countries of the region – Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Connectivity, including transit and transhipment are being implemented in the region. Even cooperation among the countries of South and South-East Asia are being enhanced. The relations have been developed in such a height that the Heads of the Governments of seven countries of the region, including our Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina have participated in the oath-taking ceremony of the Indian government. This indicates the commitment of the countries in the region for democracy and progress.

The GDP and socio-economic development of the countries of this region indicate that it has enhanced significantly in the last decade. Bangladesh was once among the Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) in the world. Now it has reached 41st position in the world economy and it will occupy 25th position in the next few years. On the other hand, India has reached 5th from 11th position and it will occupy 3rd position in the next few years. The views of our PM Sheikh Hasina and Indian PM Narendra Modi have been expressed during the summit visit in New Delhi. The Memorandums of Understanding (MoU’s) show that connectivity and cooperation have covered in almost all areas for security and development. These are described below:

Sheikh Hasina said, “India is Bangladesh’s biggest and closest neighbour, trusted friend and regional partner. Bangladesh has been putting special importance on the relationship that started in 1971 through the great Liberation War. In recent years, the two countries have continued communication and cooperation at the high levels, including at the highest level of state. During the meeting, we discussed politics and security, peaceful and secured border management and curbing border casualty to zero level, trade and connectivity, sustainable management of common rivers and water sharing, energy and regional and multilateral cooperation, among other issues of mutual interest. After the meeting, 5 new Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed and exchanged and 3 renewed MoU’s were signed and exchanged between the two countries. In addition, 2 Vision Statements were signed and exchanged. In the meeting, 13 joint programmes as areas of future work were announced.”

Narendra Modi said, “I extend a hearty welcome to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her delegation. Though we have met almost ten times in the last one year, today’s meeting is special because Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is our first state guest in the third term of our government. Bangladesh is situated at the convergence of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy, Act East Policy, Vision SAGAR and Indo-Pacific Vision. Electricity export from Nepal to Bangladesh via the Indian grid has become the first example of sub-regional cooperation in the energy sector. India Bangladesh ‘Maitri Satellite’ will give new heights to our partnership. We have decided to start technical level discussions for renewal of the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty. A technical team will soon visit Bangladesh to discuss conservation and management of the Teesta River in Bangladesh. We had comprehensive discussions on further strengthening our defence cooperation, from defence production to modernisation of armed forces. We have decided to strengthen our cooperation on counter-terrorism, countering radicalism and peaceful management of the border.”

After the delegation level meeting, the Bangladesh prime minister along with Indian counterpart witnessed the exchange of 10 MoU’s, including seven new and three renewed, on the key areas of blue economy and maritime cooperation, railway, capacity building, health, academic cooperation, fisheries and disaster management.

The new MoU’s were – MoU on the Field of Blue Economy and Maritime Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and India Ocean Region; MoU between Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute (BORI) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India for Joint Research on Oceanography of the Indian Ocean and Capacity Building; MoU on Rail Connectivity between India and Bangladesh as two separate shared vision of India Bangladesh Digital Partnership and shared vision of India Bangladesh Green Partnership for a Sustainable Future; MoU between Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACE) and Department of Space, Government of the Republic of India and Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Government of Bangladesh for Collaboration on a Joint Small Satellite Project; MoU between DSSC, Wellington and DSCSC, Mirpur for cooperation concerning military education in the field of strategic and operational studies.

Three renewed MoUs were – MoU for Fisheries Cooperation; MoU for Disaster Management; and MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Health and Medicine.

There are criticisms regarding progress of connectivity and cooperation between the two countries. The remarks of the PM categorically indicate that Bangladesh-India relations helped to face the crisis and we are moving forward, which is a role model for other countries of this region. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 25 June 2024 said her government will receive the most beneficial proposal for the country and its people over implementing the Teesta master plan project.

“We have taken Teesta projects. China and India have given separate proposals to implement the project. We must accept the proposal which will be more beneficial for the people of our country,” she said. She made the remarks while replying to a volley of questions regarding the outcome of her two-day state visit to India on June 21-22 in a press conference at her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital. She said there are many proposals over implementation of the Teesta Project.

“But, we must consider how much the project is applicable for my country, how much its return will be helpful for the welfare of the people after its completion alongside the capability to repay the loan,” she said.

China has completed a physical survey while India wants to do another regarding the implementation of the Teesta project, she said. “We will accept the survey which will be more suitable and beneficial for us,” she added.

The prime minister said India expressed desire to send technical team in this regard, adding that Bangladesh will sit with their technical team. She, however, said Bangladesh has a longstanding issue over Teesta river water sharing with India. “So, it will be easy for Bangladesh if India does the Teesta project. In that case, we won’t need to talk about the Teesta water sharing always,” she added.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has a longstanding issue with India over water sharing of the 54 common rivers.
“If there is problem, there is solution as well,” she said. The prime minister said the Ganges water sharing treaty will end by 2026. “If the treaty isn’t renewed by the time, it will continue (according to the provision of the treaty),” she said.

Replying to another query about news on Indian State of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s objection to Indian government’s move over the Teesta and Ganges rivers water sharing with Bangladesh bypassing her, Sheikh Hasina said she doesn’t want to make any comment over the issue as it is solely their internal matter. But, she said she has a good relation with all the political parties in India including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee.

About balancing of relations between India and China, the prime minister said there is nothing to balance as her government is following the foreign policy, ‘Friendship to all, malice to none’ in its fifth term, four in a row. “India is very important for Bangladesh as they along with the Freedom Fighters shed blood for the independence of Bangladesh during Liberation War in 1971,” she said. She said she went to New Delhi as she was first invited to visit India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and later invited for state visit to India. Now she will visit China as that country also invited her, she added.

Replying to a question about rail transit to India, Sheikh Hasina said everyone should keep in mind that she does not sell Bangladesh as they liberated the country. She said both the countries are resuming the rail connectivity among them which is beneficial for trade and commerce and socio-economic development for the two nations. She said Bangladesh is an independent country and they liberated the country through the Liberation War.

Still BNP and other anti-democratic and anti-liberation forces are propagating that the MoU’s signed are anti-state and thought this the government has sold the country. We know, the world is now interconnected in all aspects, including defence. Powerful and leading countries in the world have formed G7, G20, BRICS, NATO, QUAD and other forums are cooperating among themselves as well as with other countries in all fields, including defence. Even UN peacekeeping forces are working across the world for peacekeeping and progress. So connectivity cooperation in all sectors are universal and for peace, development and progress of any country.

The relation between the two countries is beneficial for the people of both countries and helping the progress. We hope the relation between the two countries will reach a new height for stability and progress of the nations and the region.


Dr. N. C. Bhowmik is a freedom
fighter, an academic scholar
and retired ambassador.