Strengthening Indo-Bangla Relations
Saumitra Mohan
Chief Executive Officer, Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority, Darjeeling, West Bengal
e-mail:
saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com
Notwithstanding India's attempts to improve and consolidate its bilateral relations with Bangladesh, the latter continues to indulge in hostile acts that compromise India's security and territorial integrity. The unprovoked firing by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) from time to time resulting in loss of human and animal lives confirms this.
Despite the assertions by India's Border Security Force (BSF), backed by concrete evidence, Bangladesh is not willing to concede that it is hosting militants having inimical designs on India. Bangladesh does not accept that any militant camps are functioning on its territory. But the fact remains that some 172 training camps belonging to different insurgent groups have been operating in Bangladesh for a long time. The BSF has been submitting lists of such camps at annual border meetings with its counterparts namely the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) since the late 1990s only to be rebuffed every time by the latter. The BDR did assure in 2006 that it would 'look into the matter and find out,' but did nothing beyond that.
According to the 1996 accord between them, both countries were expected to disallow such bases on their side of the border, however, Bangladesh did not keep its word as is obvious from the experience to the contrary. In spite of initial promises, the present interim government in Bangladesh is no different from its predecessors. It is obvious by now that Dhaka deliberately ignores the disruptive activities of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which is out to destabilise India's North-East as part of its long-cherished desire to bleed India through a thousand cuts and eventually dismember the state.
A TV channel's footage recently of rebels belonging to the secessionist National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) undergoing training in Bangladesh should leave Dhaka red-faced. Recently, a Guwahati-based website quoted NDFB commander Ranjan Daimary welcoming and exhorting trained cadets in Bangladesh saying that their real task would start with the end of their training. The Centre cannot ignore the NDFB's potential for mischief and must revisit the truce. In all this, Bangladesh's friendly gestures can go a long way in India's efforts to fight such forces like Bhutan did a few years back.
Bangladesh's cooperation in this regard would also help in tackling the long festering problem of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The fact remains that today millions of illegal Bangladeshi citizens are residing and working in India and it is very difficult for the latter to identify and deport them for different practical reasons. That is why, there has been a suggestion for opening the borders with Bangladesh, as is the case with Nepal and Bhutan. This measure would help in effective monitoring of inter-border movements of citizens and ensure issue of work permits for citizens on both sides of the border; it shall also go a long way to improve bilateral trade between the two countries which is currently heavily skewed in favour of India.
And if the functionalist theory of international relations is to be accepted, such a bold decision would also pave way for better political relations due to the positive spin-offs of improved economic ties. It is a well-known fact that better economic ties have the potential to spill over into the domain of politics as apparent from the experience of the European Community, which may also help the economic development of India's North-East. Sceptics may highlight that such an act would have adverse implications including endangering India's security and integrity by changing the demographic profile of the bordering Indian states. It is believed that India's stronger pull factor would make this inter-border movement one-way, with Bangladeshi citizens drawing on India's economic resources and the developmental benefits available to Indian citizens. This may also make the situation tense rather than easing it as is being touted. The bird flu outbreak in West Bengal is attributed to ineffective border surveillance between the two countries; had it been completely open, the situation would have been much more dangerous than it has been so far.
Indo-Bangla trade ties have only led to growing beneficial relations. The recently launched bus and train services between the two countries have been very well received by the two people. One hopes that better sense will prevail on Bangladesh and it would realise the benefits that better ties with India may fetch. In fact, it would have positive implications for wider regional cooperation, letting SAARC realise the objectives that have eluded the over two decade old organisation so far.
Note: The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Government of India.
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