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Delhi’s help in Rohingya resolution could spell ill for Dhaka
Published: 00:05, May 25,2017
THE proposition which India’s high commissioner in Dhaka put forth that Delhi would be party to the resolution of the Rohingya crisis in the Rakhine state of Myanmar involving all sides of the matter, as New Age reported on Wednesday, seems to be umbrageous and, therefore, warrants serious thoughts. Dhaka’s agreeing to such a proposition as set out by India could prove to be suicidal for Bangladesh.
India is always reported, even by the Indian media, to have thought the Rohingya issue to be complex and more of a security threat to itself than a humanitarian crisis and to have cautiously reserved any pronouncement especially since the renewed persecution on and violence against the Rohingyas in the Rakhine state beginning in October 2016. India, which reportedly has about 40,000 Rohingyas living in its several states, has had the taste of the crisis only since 2012; and it came to be criticised and was held to be in contravention of international law, by rights organisations this April because of its reported plans to identify, arrest and deport the Rohingya refugees, which could only mean intensifying their crisis back in Myanmar.
India has seldom acted in the interest of Bangladesh and issues concerning death by the Indian border forces in frontiers with Bangladesh, Teesta water sharing, tariff and nontariff barriers on Bangladesh’s export to India, international river-linking project or approval of power trade from Nepal through India have remained pending.
With so many prickly issues not being attended to, India’s offer for help in the Rohingya crisis resolution may in all likelihood go against the interest of Bangladesh.
India is also reported to have helped Myanmar in maritime dispute resolution with Bangladesh before 2009, when the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea settled the issue. India may have done it purposely to its own benefits as it is reported to have thought Myanmar of playing a key role in connecting with southeast Asia and cutting off China from the Bay of Bengal.
As India’s rivalry with China grows on many fronts, upsetting the Myanmar regime, experts fear, could be a strategic mistake for India. India also has security interests that depend on the goodwill of the Myanmar regime. In 2015, after an attack by Naga people on a security convoy in Manipur, Indian security forces were reported to carry out a covert raid across the border with a tacit nod from Myanmar. Besides, India is reported in March to be saying to ‘dissociate’ itself from any UN attempts to send an international mission to investigate killing, rape and torture by security forces in the Rakhine state.
While in such a situation, any ‘help’ that India could offer might go against the interest of Bangladesh, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which has dense ties with Myanmar, and the United Nations are in a better position to effectively make interventions in Rohingya crisis resolution. Bangladesh, thus, should strive to take other neighbours of Myanmar — Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, the ASEAN members that are more or less affected by the Rohingya crisis — on board and take up the issue at regional and international forums to mount pressure on Myanmar to resolve the crisis.
- See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/162...ould-spell-ill-for-dhaka#sthash.vWS572h0.dpuf
Published: 00:05, May 25,2017
THE proposition which India’s high commissioner in Dhaka put forth that Delhi would be party to the resolution of the Rohingya crisis in the Rakhine state of Myanmar involving all sides of the matter, as New Age reported on Wednesday, seems to be umbrageous and, therefore, warrants serious thoughts. Dhaka’s agreeing to such a proposition as set out by India could prove to be suicidal for Bangladesh.
India is always reported, even by the Indian media, to have thought the Rohingya issue to be complex and more of a security threat to itself than a humanitarian crisis and to have cautiously reserved any pronouncement especially since the renewed persecution on and violence against the Rohingyas in the Rakhine state beginning in October 2016. India, which reportedly has about 40,000 Rohingyas living in its several states, has had the taste of the crisis only since 2012; and it came to be criticised and was held to be in contravention of international law, by rights organisations this April because of its reported plans to identify, arrest and deport the Rohingya refugees, which could only mean intensifying their crisis back in Myanmar.
India has seldom acted in the interest of Bangladesh and issues concerning death by the Indian border forces in frontiers with Bangladesh, Teesta water sharing, tariff and nontariff barriers on Bangladesh’s export to India, international river-linking project or approval of power trade from Nepal through India have remained pending.
With so many prickly issues not being attended to, India’s offer for help in the Rohingya crisis resolution may in all likelihood go against the interest of Bangladesh.
India is also reported to have helped Myanmar in maritime dispute resolution with Bangladesh before 2009, when the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea settled the issue. India may have done it purposely to its own benefits as it is reported to have thought Myanmar of playing a key role in connecting with southeast Asia and cutting off China from the Bay of Bengal.
As India’s rivalry with China grows on many fronts, upsetting the Myanmar regime, experts fear, could be a strategic mistake for India. India also has security interests that depend on the goodwill of the Myanmar regime. In 2015, after an attack by Naga people on a security convoy in Manipur, Indian security forces were reported to carry out a covert raid across the border with a tacit nod from Myanmar. Besides, India is reported in March to be saying to ‘dissociate’ itself from any UN attempts to send an international mission to investigate killing, rape and torture by security forces in the Rakhine state.
While in such a situation, any ‘help’ that India could offer might go against the interest of Bangladesh, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which has dense ties with Myanmar, and the United Nations are in a better position to effectively make interventions in Rohingya crisis resolution. Bangladesh, thus, should strive to take other neighbours of Myanmar — Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, the ASEAN members that are more or less affected by the Rohingya crisis — on board and take up the issue at regional and international forums to mount pressure on Myanmar to resolve the crisis.
- See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/162...ould-spell-ill-for-dhaka#sthash.vWS572h0.dpuf
