India-Bangladesh Relations: The way forward

[Gabbar]

India-Bangladesh Relations: The way forward

http://www.bei-bd.org/docs/fs9.pdf

 

[white_pawn]

http://www.hcidhaka.org/pdf/Political%20and%20Economic%20relations.pdf

After 43 years, India-Bangladesh friendship train on track

Dhaka: It was a trip down memory lane for old timers who travelled from Dhaka to Kolkata by train on April 14, 2008. The last time they could do this was 43 years ago.

70-year-old Sheikh Rasul Haque who was travelling with his two sons from the Bangladesh capital Dhaka to Kolkata on the maiden trip of the Moitree (friendship) Express recalled making the trip by train to Kolkata in 1962 as a student.

A war in 1965 between India and Pakistan (of which Bangladesh was a part until 1971) stopped the cross border passenger train service that covers a distance of 538km - 418km of it in Bangladesh and 120km in India.
Memories refreshed

"I have so many fond memories of those days when I used to travel with my father and today I'm happy as I'm travelling with my sons,’’ Haque said.

It was yesterday once more for Momena Begum, 75, and 76-year-old K.S. Zaman who were among the older set of passengers and swept over by nostalgia as Bangladesh's foreign minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury whistled off the Moitree Express at 8:30am from Dhaka's cantonment station with nearly 400 passengers on board.

Chowdhury's Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, flagged off the reciprocal Moitree Express from India's Chitpur station in Kolkata with 65 passengers on board on the day of Bangla new year.

A Dhaka-based journalist Raheed Ejaz, who was on the ‘Moitree Express’ of the Bangladesh Railway, said that it was colourful all the way and that, as the train entered India through Bangladesh's Darshana border at about 5 pm (Bangladesh Time), hundreds of people thronged the tracks to wave.

Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971 following a civil war in which the Indian army was embroiled. But despite the goodwill for India in the newly born country the rail link was never restored and travellers had to be satisfied with bus and air links.

"All the preparations, including security and immigration measures, have been completed before the formal launch of the passenger train service," said A.T.K.M. Ismail, a high official in Bangladesh's communications ministry.

Building bonhomie

Bangladesh and India signed an agreement in 2001 to commission the direct passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata. But it took until April 10, this year, before the two countries could sign a supplementary agreement clearing the way for the cross-border run of trains on the Dhaka-Kolkata route.

West Bengal in India and Bangladesh, previously known as East Pakistan, are home to Bengali-speaking people. The larger Bengal was partitioned in 1947, on the basis of religion, as the subcontinent got freedom from the British colonial rule.

Before boarding the train Zaman said he was visiting relatives in Kolkata where he was born 76 years ago. Zaman and his family migrated to East Pakistan in the wake of Hindu-Muslim riots during the violent partition.

The journey took over 12 hours, including five hours for customs formalities on both sides of the border.

Passengers from both India and Bangladesh, however, alleged that the customs and immigration on both the sides were taking too much time for clearance and many said it could discourage people from using the train service.

Prof. Ataur Rahman, who teaches political science at Dhaka University, said that bureaucratic short-sightedness in both the countries ought not to be allowed to overtake the spirit of the people. "There are good things about India-Bangladesh relations... there are irritants as well," he said.

The revival of the rail service was welcomed by the people in both the countries and must not be given any political colour, Rahman said, adding that it should be taken as connectivity for the people of the two countries. "Connectivity is a must in the region and Bangladesh and India must be connected and it should be hassle-free because the people will look for the cost benefit," he said.

"India should be more generous and Bangladesh should be more liberal for a functioning relationship... Bangladesh should not forget India is a power in the region... at the same time India should win the hearts of the people, certainly not by its sheer strength," Rahman, a well-known analyst said.

After 43 years, India-Bangladesh friendship train on track | OneWorld.net (U.S.)

 

[Gabbar]

India, Bangladesh To Discuss Defense Relations

NEW DELHI - Indo-Bangladesh defense ties are on the upswing under the Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka. A high-level Bangladesh Air Force delegation led by the country's air chief, Air Marshal S.M. Zia-ur-Rehman, is in New Delhi to discuss defense ties between the neighboring countries, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.

India is ready to export to Bangladesh defense equipment, including the Advanced Light Helicopter, and to assist the country in building warships, the ministry official said.

New Delhi is concerned about the increasing levels of defense supplies being sent from China to Bangladesh, Defence Ministry sources here said.

There are reports the Chinese Navy has access to Bangladesh's Chittagong port, the sources said. China already has a military base on the Coco islands, leased from Myanmar, near India's Andaman islands, which is considered a listening post over the eastern part of India, including India's ballistic missile center in the eastern state of Orissa. China is also helping Pakistan build the Gwadar deep-sea port.

China has sold artillery systems, combat aircraft and small arms to Bangladesh in the last two years.

The Bangladesh air chief will hold talks with Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Indian Navy Chief Adm. Sureesh Mehta and Army Chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor.

India helped Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, during its 1971 independence war against Pakistan. Fire has been exchanged along the border between the countries in cases relating to forced migration and smuggling.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4056461&c=ASI&s=TOP

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Farooq Sobhan is not exactly the most objective commentator in Bangladesh. The only way relations with India can improve is after a war with that country. Then and only then will India respect us and not push us around. There is of course the risk that in the event of war India would probably disintegrate but that would solve Bangladesh's problem once and for all. No India - no trouble

 

[Gabbar]

Farooq Sobhan is not exactly the most objective commentator in Bangladesh. The only way relations with India can improve is after a war with that country. Then and only then will India respect us and not push us around. There is of course the risk that in the event of war India would probably disintegrate but that would solve Bangladesh's problem once and for all. No India - no trouble

Derailing of this thread have already begun, I always expected it would be you MBI.

 

[Gabbar]

New Delhi reaches out to Bangladesh opposition leader

Bangladesh News.Net
Friday 24th April, 2009 (IANS)

India and Bangladesh have agreed to hold 'discussions at all levels' to consolidate bilateral ties, the Indian envoy said here after a meeting with opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's two-hour meeting with Zia Thursday was an apparent bid to set records straight in bilateral ties after recent criticism from a section of the media and political circles.

The inability of Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to call on Zia during his brief and hectic visit here in February was criticised by the media.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon's visit earlier this month, which was widely reported here as 'a surprise visit', also came in for flak.

New Delhi has been criticised for 'springing surprises' and for displaying proximity to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government as against that of Zia, who served two terms as the prime minister (1991-96 and 2001-06).

New Age newspaper had pointed out in an editorial earlier this week that Mukherjee had 'failed' to meet Zia, but had made it a point to meet Hasina when the latter was the leader of the opposition.

Speaking at the joint briefing with Zia's foreign affairs advisor Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Chakravarty said: 'The leader of the opposition has an important role to play in parliament.'

Both sides also hoped that 'parliament should be active so that all can give and listen to one's opinion'.

Chakravarty said there was 'nothing secret and everybody knew about Menon's visit and it was a formal visit', United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency reported.

His two-hour meeting with Zia, attended by aides on both sides, was on bilateral ties and developments in the 'neighbourhood' - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, besides Myanmar with which Bangladesh has intermittent border problems.

Both sides also expressed a unanimous opinion that the relationship between the two neighbouring countries 'should be very cooperative' and the relations would further improve if the outstanding problems between them were resolved, The Daily Star said Friday.

Chowdhury told newspersons that India and its people believe that if a 'stable and strong society builds up in Bangladesh, it would be good for all'.

The high commissioner expressed sorrow over the killings of 81 people, including 55 Bangladesh Army officers, at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in February.

He said what they discussed encompassed what is happening in India and Bangladesh and in its surroundings. He termed his meeting with Khaleda 'excellent and productive talks'.

New Delhi reaches out to Bangladesh opposition leader

 

[Jako]

Farooq Sobhan is not exactly the most objective commentator in Bangladesh. The only way relations with India can improve is after a war with that country. Then and only then will India respect us and not push us around. There is of course the risk that in the event of war India would probably disintegrate but that would solve Bangladesh's problem once and for all. No India - no trouble

first of all there is no chance of a indo-bangla war.....secondly you have no idea what bangladesh's artillery is like at the present moment,remember,no third country will interfare in case of a war....SO STOP SOUNDING LIKE A FOOL.....BANGLADESH' FUTURE IS WITH INDIA NOT AGAINST INDIA AND SIMILARLY VICE-VERSA FOR INDIA........sorry for being offtopic mods but mbi provoked me first......

 

[Gabbar]

first of all there is no chance of a indo-bangla war.....secondly you have no idea what bangladesh's artillery is like at the present moment,remember,no third country will interfare in case of a war....SO STOP SOUNDING LIKE A FOOL.....BANGLADESH' FUTURE IS WITH INDIA NOT AGAINST INDIA AND SIMILARLY VICE-VERSA FOR INDIA........sorry for being offtopic mods but mbi provoked me first......

Good response but lets try not feed the troll next time.

This goes to all Indian posters, Please do not feed the trolls in this thread. Let's debate with some logical sense and current ground reality, not on some baseless, senseless and negetive fantasies. Please report any trolling and offtopic BS to MODS, by clicking "report" button on the left hand side. I am looking forward to your co-operation.
Thannk you!!!

 

[white_pawn]

Shifting paradigm in India-Bangladesh ties​

Kolkata, India — Back in the 1990s, when the first Bangladesh National Party government of Khaleda Zia was in power, a Bangladeshi acquaintance back home in Dhaka from a U.S. university told me how he still remembered the tune in the Indian Gold Spot fizz drink advertisement he had listened to as a kid.
Gold Spot was a poor cousin of Fanta in the 1970's. Not a spot could be found after 1975 when Fanta and Coca Cola came in -- "and you know, a lot of junk was dumped on us," he chuckled. With his elder brothers, he had thrown garlands in 1971 at victorious Indian soldiers as their trucks rolled onto Dhaka streets.

A retired senior bureaucrat comfortably settled into a sourcing and shipping business in Dhaka with whom I had a working "homemade" lunch -- his wife sent food for three omnivores --seemed apologetic as he ladled out rice for me. He felt it was far below Indian standards and lamented about the stupidity of breaking up Pakistan, since long-grained basmati rice was sold even from ration shops before 1971. A few more years of agitation could have corrected the economic imbalances, he reflected. He despised the shortsightedness of those who fought in the liberation struggle.

Different allegiances way back in 1971, but more than 20 years later in the mid-1990s -- one disillusioned by the savior India and one feeling pangs of separation -- both wondered whether the savior had latent intentions to become a devourer.

Unofficial estimates peg at 18,000 Indian soldiers killed in the eastern sector during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. Recent remembrances for the dead and feting the 10-member Indian delegation of Bangladesh's liberation war veterans who were invited for the event came too late, but it was a path-breaking step in Indo-Bangladesh relations.

General Moeen U Ahmed, the real power behind Bangladesh's caretaker government, visited India in February this year. Garrisoned in West Pakistan as a junior lieutenant during the turmoil, he has put both former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina behind bars. He should be judged from the perspective of the shifting paradigms in South Asia in the 21st century.

Moeen's idea of joint cooperation and training with the Indian army to combat natural disasters and share advance information on tsunamis and floods was perhaps intended to render U.S. marines wading in post-calamity floodwaters irrelevant in a time of renascent religious bigotry.

To reduce Bangladesh's gross trade imbalance, India allowed the import of 8 million duty-free garments last year. This and the goodwill gestures by India after Cyclone Sidr did massive damage in Bangladesh were humanitarian steps forward.

A future sovereign, economically viable and stable Bangladesh is in India's interest.

With elections promised by the end of this year -- deferred earlier, as is usual whenever the military calls the shots -- it is too early to say if Moeen is a power hound. In an interview with the Bangladeshi magazine "Weekly Holiday" some time back, he said he wanted to keep fighting corruption in his country, when asked what he would do if he had just 48 hours to live.

Although six top leaders of the radical JMB (Jamat-ul-Islam Bangladesh) were executed and corrupt businessmen and politicians imprisoned, Moeen's caretaker government is yet to nail the culprits who nearly killed Hasina during a rally in August, 2004. Despite a commander of Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (HUJI) Mufti Hannan's confession of a BNP conspiracy, headway is yet to be made.

HUJI imprints have been found in recent terror attacks in India. The parental roots of HUJI and those of terrorists holed up in Pakistan's northwest are no different. Fundamentalism in the name of Islam may be dormant now, but it has struck roots in most villages of Bangladesh.

The Pakistani army may have left Bangladesh long ago, but the Inter-Service Intelligence continues to have considerable leverage on the anti-India lobby. Northeast India's militants are reportedly entrenched in Bangladesh.

There is nothing like an India-friendly secular Awami League or an anti-India Bangladesh National Party anymore. The Awami League aligned with the religious-right Khilafat-e-Majlish to fight the last aborted election The Election Commission has ruled that religious parties can take part in future elections.

During Sheikh Hasina's pro-liberation AL government, Indian border security personnel were hacked to death by their counterparts while she swallowed the epithet of "miscreants" for the freedom fighters by the Pakistani High Commissioner in Dhaka during Bangladesh's independence silver jubilee.

Now the first train from Kolkata to Dhaka is scheduled for an inaugural run on April 14, Bengali New Year Day. The date may be deferred due to West Bengal's village-level elections, but this service will help clear up past diplomatic nettles.

Can India and Bangladesh open a new chapter in their relations?

Shifting paradigm in India-Bangladesh ties - upiasia.com

 

[toxic_pus]

Derailing of this thread have already begun, I always expected it would be you MBI.

Come on now. Say, you have a pet theory that you hold dearly to your heart. Say, you have done 10 years of research to somehow fit some data to validate your theory. Say, you have written a book on the basis of such research. Say, you pat your back every now and then thinking that your book is the next best thing to Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Then suddenly you see your premise breaking down like a house of card.

Don't know about you, but I would be pissed. Very very pissed.

 

[ANDUBYLL]

Derailing of this thread have already begun, I always expected it would be you MBI.

Dont worry, we have already taken care of the troll in other threads.
You carry on with the good work ! India - Bangla friendship is good from India's viewpoint and more power to good relations between good friends

 

[white_pawn]

Ya after readying thins kind of post anyone can get pissed off, but its better to ignore this kind of post and maintain you seemliness and stick to the topic.

 

[TopCat]

India, Bangladesh To Discuss Defense Relations
India is ready to export to Bangladesh defense equipment, including the Advanced Light Helicopter, and to assist the country in building warships, the ministry official said.

New Delhi is concerned about the increasing levels of defense supplies being sent from China to Bangladesh, Defence Ministry sources here said.

There are reports the Chinese Navy has access to Bangladesh's Chittagong port, the sources said. China already has a military base on the Coco islands, leased from Myanmar, near India's Andaman islands, which is considered a listening post over the eastern part of India, including India's ballistic missile center in the eastern state of Orissa. China is also helping Pakistan build the Gwadar deep-sea port.

China has sold artillery systems, combat aircraft and small arms to Bangladesh in the last two years.

This is important to have a friendly relation between two neighbouring army. But Bangaldesh will never accept any indian offer regarding defence. They did not even accept indian offer in building highways forget defence. They also politely rejected Indian offer in nuclear co-operation. No matter how small the country is, it still consider India as a competing country rather a complementary country.
Chinese defence influence will remain as stronger as their involvement in Bangladesh is deep rooted. One might think AL govt will be too lean towards India which I differ. I rather say they will be more friendly towards India. AL is paying more attention to Trans Asian railway than Asian highways as TAR will give us direct access to China whereas Asian highway will give India the transit to its NE. Also China most probably finance the TAR in Myanmar part with Bangladesh to help Myanmar to get this project going.
But good news for India, AL most probably open up sea and Railway link for India which I believe a long due. With deep sea port (Sonadia) in action the whole regional trade and economics will reshape and first step towards 21st century integrated economy.

 

[ANDUBYLL]

Accepting all your above points. Bangladeshis being an independant country can and should decide on which countries they desire to trade or have strategic relations with !

In terms with issues that both countries need to resolve, like water sharing agreement , maritime boundaries, terrorism etc, I believe that a annual high level meeting with a core group at Prime Minister level should meet and iron out a mutually beneficial accord !

India is a friendly nation to Bangladesh, this , almost 100% of Indians will tell you. The same people who have a pathological hatred of Pakistan will almost always tell you that they want friendship and good relations with Bangladesh. This goes beyond religion or strategic interests !

 

[BanglaBhoot]

The majority of Bangladeshis from their hearts distrust India but if forced to compromise on its national interests the situation could become dangerous and dire as in 1975 when the patriotic army threw out the pro-Indian thugs from power. India is a shameless nation just read The White Tiger or even better The India Doctrine (1947-2007).