Hand in hand with Dhaka

INDIA recently welcomed the official visit of one of the most distinguished leaders in its neighbourhood, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina. India’s relationship with Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, goes back to 1971. Her father, who had been incarcerated in West Pakistan, returned triumphantly to Dhaka after Pakistani forces in Bangladesh surrendered to India. Life, thereafter, remained turbulent for Sheikh Hasina. Her parents and three brothers were killed at the Presidential Palace on August 15, 1975, by a group of Bangladeshi army officers.

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India and Bangladesh should work on the issue of river waters by taking into consideration the sentiments and concerns of the people of West Bengal.

Sheikh Hasina and her sister were visiting Germany during the military coup, and hence, escaped the assassination. Over the years, there were several reports of foreign involvement in the assassination. Despite the adversity she faced, Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh and revived the Awami League party. She was first elected PM in 1996, and served till 2001. She again assumed office as PM after winning elections in 2009. Thereafter, she continued as PM after being re-elected twice.

She has been ruthless against those involved in political killings in 1971, and has also remained committed to religious harmony in Bangladesh. Pakistan, however, has remained supportive of religious fundamentalists in Bangladesh. Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have remained frosty. Pro-Pakistani Islamist elements have been strictly dealt with, but radical elements who find her policies unacceptable remain active.

While Pakistan ensured that SAARC remained ineffective, India and Bangladesh have ensured that regional cooperation — without Pakistan — functions effectively, with the formation of BIMSTEC, which includes Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India has free trade relations with all SAARC members, except Pakistan.

What needs to be focused on is the possibility of greater maritime cooperation across our eastern shores.

Bangladesh has experienced a steady rate of economic growth. It does not, unlike Pakistan, depend exclusively on foreign donors and institutions like the World Bank for its economic survival. Bangladesh reached commendable levels of growth, which varied between 6% in 2012 and 8.15% in 2018. There was a predictable post-Covid fall in the growth rate to 3.51% in 2021. The Asian Development Bank, however, envisages a growth of 6% this year for Bangladesh. But where Bangladesh has really excelled is the textile sector, which has an annual revenue of $34 billion, and accounts for 80% of its export earnings. Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of textiles in the world.

While Sheikh Hasina has faced strong opposition from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Islamist groupings like the Jamaat-e-Islami over the years, she has stood firm in her commitment to strengthen democratic processes and communal peace. She has been a strong partner of India, including on regional issues, at forums like SAARC and BIMSTEC.

Her relations with the US, meanwhile, have been uneasy in the past, suggesting that old American prejudices had been carried forward.

India has steadily expanded its economic cooperation with Bangladesh, particularly in road and rail communications. It also stepped in last year with a supply of 9.8 million Covid vaccines. Bangladesh is today a close development partner of India. Over the past decade, India has extended three lines of credit amounting to $8 billion to Bangladesh, apart from grant assistance for projects in crucial areas, ranging from communications to educational and professional training facilities.

The most difficult agreement to negotiate with Bangladesh was the Farakka pact on the sharing of the Ganga waters. Interestingly, that agreement was negotiated in 1977 by the then defence minister, Jagjivan Ram, who was supported by the then West Bengal chief minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray.

The New Delhi-Dhaka relationship cannot ignore the sentiments and concerns of people in West Bengal, especially on issues of river waters. While compromises could be worked out on sharing the waters of the Teesta river, New Delhi could move faster in agreeing on a compromise by working, as in the past, in close and continuous consultation with West Bengal’s Chief Minister.

Bangladesh is now bearing the burden of looking after an estimated 9.19 lakh Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. India has refused to host any Rohingya refugee. The entire burden is being borne by Bangladesh. It is now perhaps time for New Delhi to work with Myanmar and others for creating conditions which would enable the Rohingya to return to Myanmar. The UNHCR and other UN-backed organisations would have to positively contribute to ensure that the refugees can return to Myanmar safely.

In geopolitical terms, India must also pay close attention to Chinese involvement in the construction of the Kyaukphyu Port in Myanmar, located close to India’s shores. The port is also located very close to the Sittwe port in Myanmar, built by India, to facilitate the access of its Northeastern states to the sea. While Quad has an interest in keeping an eye on a growing Chinese military presence west of the Strait of Malacca, it is important to also enhance cooperation with Indonesia across our eastern maritime borders.