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Indias finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was in Dhaka last week for only four hours but in that visit he managed to convey the importance that India attaches to its ties with Bangladesh.
Mukherjee was visiting Dhaka to mark the signing of a $1 billion loan deal, the largest line of credit received by Bangladesh under a single agreement. Indias Exim Bank has signed this line of credit agreement with Bangladeshs economic relations division and the loan will be used to develop railways and communications infrastructure in Bangladesh. This deal carries 1.75% annual interest and would be repayable in 20 years, including a five-year grace period. It was offered during Sheikh Hasinas visit to India in January.
A month back the two countries had signed a 35-year electricity transmission deal under which India will export up to 500 mw of power to Bangladesh, starting 2012. Dhaka has also signed a $1.7 billion pact with the National Thermal Power Corporation for the construction of two coal-fired plants in southern Bangladesh. Despite these initiatives India is failing to build on the momentum provided by Hasinas visit.
Bangladesh is rightly upset at the slow pace in the implementation of deals signed during that visit. Hasina has taken great political risk to put momentum back into bilateral ties. But there has been no serious attempt on Indias part to settle outstanding issues.
Bureaucratic inertia and lack of political will has prevented many of the deals from getting followed through. Dhaka is seeking response to its demand for the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers on Bangladeshi products. There has also been little movement on the boundary issue. India has failed to reciprocate Hasinas overtures. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has used the India-Bangladesh bonhomie under Hasina to attack the government for toeing Indias line. India-Bangladesh ties had reached their lowest ebb during the 2001-2006 tenure of the BNP government.
India has failed to capitalise on the propitious political circumstances in Bangladesh, damaging its credibility even further. New Delhis window of opportunity will not exist forever. Anti-Indian sentiments can be marginalised if India allows Bangladesh to harness its economic growth and present it with greater opportunities. Yet India remains obsessed with AfPak and has failed to give due attention to Bangladesh.
Begum Khaleda Zias first visit to India came in March 2006, at the end of her term as prime minister. In contrast, Hasina visited India in January 2010, just a year into her term as the premier. New Delhi rolled out the red carpet to welcome Hasina as its first state guest of this decade. Overcoming formidable hurdles, Hasinas Awami League had swept to a decisive electoral victory in December 2008.
This tale of two visits is a reflection of how Indias relationship with Bangladesh seems to have become hostage to domestic political imperatives in Dhaka. It is ironic that this should happen given Indias central role in helping establish an independent Bangladesh and the cultural affinities and ethnic linkages they share. But friends are as temporary as enemies in international politics. Instead, it is a states national interests that determine its foreign policy. In the case of India and Bangladesh, these interests have been diverging for some years now, making this bilateral relationship susceptible to the domestic political narratives in New Delhi and Dhaka.
India is the central issue around which Bangladeshi political parties define their foreign policy agenda. This shouldnt be a surprise given Indias size and geographic linkages. Over the years political parties opposing the Awami League have tended to define themselves in opposition to India, in effect portraying Awami League as Indias stooge. Moreover, radical Islamic groups have tried to buttress their own Islamic identities by attacking India.
Ever since she has come to power in December 2008, Sheikh Hasina has faced challenges from right-wing parties as well as the fundamentalist organisations such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen which enjoy Pakistans support. These groups are united in undermining efforts to improve ties with New Delhi. The greatest challenge that Hasina overcame in her first year was the mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, which erupted in February, 2009. It soon became clear that the mutineers were being instigated by supporters of the opposition led by the BNP and others connected to the Jamaat-e-Islami. India supported Hasinas crackdown on the mutineers by sealing its borders with Bangladesh and forcing back mutineers attempting to cross over.
India is witnessing rising turmoil all around its borders and, therefore, a stable, moderate Bangladesh is in its long-term interests. Constructive Indo-Bangladesh ties can be a major stabilising factor for the south Asian region as a whole. It cant afford to ignore Dhaka.
source:http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/mai...-to-cement-its-partnership-with-dhaka_1423895
Mukherjee was visiting Dhaka to mark the signing of a $1 billion loan deal, the largest line of credit received by Bangladesh under a single agreement. Indias Exim Bank has signed this line of credit agreement with Bangladeshs economic relations division and the loan will be used to develop railways and communications infrastructure in Bangladesh. This deal carries 1.75% annual interest and would be repayable in 20 years, including a five-year grace period. It was offered during Sheikh Hasinas visit to India in January.
A month back the two countries had signed a 35-year electricity transmission deal under which India will export up to 500 mw of power to Bangladesh, starting 2012. Dhaka has also signed a $1.7 billion pact with the National Thermal Power Corporation for the construction of two coal-fired plants in southern Bangladesh. Despite these initiatives India is failing to build on the momentum provided by Hasinas visit.
Bangladesh is rightly upset at the slow pace in the implementation of deals signed during that visit. Hasina has taken great political risk to put momentum back into bilateral ties. But there has been no serious attempt on Indias part to settle outstanding issues.
Bureaucratic inertia and lack of political will has prevented many of the deals from getting followed through. Dhaka is seeking response to its demand for the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers on Bangladeshi products. There has also been little movement on the boundary issue. India has failed to reciprocate Hasinas overtures. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has used the India-Bangladesh bonhomie under Hasina to attack the government for toeing Indias line. India-Bangladesh ties had reached their lowest ebb during the 2001-2006 tenure of the BNP government.
India has failed to capitalise on the propitious political circumstances in Bangladesh, damaging its credibility even further. New Delhis window of opportunity will not exist forever. Anti-Indian sentiments can be marginalised if India allows Bangladesh to harness its economic growth and present it with greater opportunities. Yet India remains obsessed with AfPak and has failed to give due attention to Bangladesh.
Begum Khaleda Zias first visit to India came in March 2006, at the end of her term as prime minister. In contrast, Hasina visited India in January 2010, just a year into her term as the premier. New Delhi rolled out the red carpet to welcome Hasina as its first state guest of this decade. Overcoming formidable hurdles, Hasinas Awami League had swept to a decisive electoral victory in December 2008.
This tale of two visits is a reflection of how Indias relationship with Bangladesh seems to have become hostage to domestic political imperatives in Dhaka. It is ironic that this should happen given Indias central role in helping establish an independent Bangladesh and the cultural affinities and ethnic linkages they share. But friends are as temporary as enemies in international politics. Instead, it is a states national interests that determine its foreign policy. In the case of India and Bangladesh, these interests have been diverging for some years now, making this bilateral relationship susceptible to the domestic political narratives in New Delhi and Dhaka.
India is the central issue around which Bangladeshi political parties define their foreign policy agenda. This shouldnt be a surprise given Indias size and geographic linkages. Over the years political parties opposing the Awami League have tended to define themselves in opposition to India, in effect portraying Awami League as Indias stooge. Moreover, radical Islamic groups have tried to buttress their own Islamic identities by attacking India.
Ever since she has come to power in December 2008, Sheikh Hasina has faced challenges from right-wing parties as well as the fundamentalist organisations such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen which enjoy Pakistans support. These groups are united in undermining efforts to improve ties with New Delhi. The greatest challenge that Hasina overcame in her first year was the mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, which erupted in February, 2009. It soon became clear that the mutineers were being instigated by supporters of the opposition led by the BNP and others connected to the Jamaat-e-Islami. India supported Hasinas crackdown on the mutineers by sealing its borders with Bangladesh and forcing back mutineers attempting to cross over.
India is witnessing rising turmoil all around its borders and, therefore, a stable, moderate Bangladesh is in its long-term interests. Constructive Indo-Bangladesh ties can be a major stabilising factor for the south Asian region as a whole. It cant afford to ignore Dhaka.
source:http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/mai...-to-cement-its-partnership-with-dhaka_1423895
