Introduction :
Bangladesh and India are
South Asian neighbors. Generally relations have been friendly, although
sometimes there are border disputes. The historic land boundary agreement was
signed on 6 June 2015 which opened a new era in the relations and further
stopped all irritants in ties. They are common members of SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA and
the Commonwealth. In particular, Bangladesh and the East Indian states of West
Bengal and Tripura are Bengali-speaking. Bangladesh has a high
commission in New Delhi with consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata.
India has a high commission in Dhaka with a consulate in Chittagong.
In a survey, 70% percent of Bangladeshis expressed a favorable opinion and
perception of India. Historically and culturally the two nations have been
considerably close to each other.
History
:
India's
links with Bangladesh are civilization, cultural, social and economic. There is
much that unites the two countries – a shared history and common heritage,
linguistic and cultural ties, passion for music, literature and the arts. The
two nations were strong allies during the Bangladesh Liberation
War in 1971. However, they developed different Cold
War alliances in the late 1970s and 80s. With the onset of economic
liberalization in South Asia, they forged greater bilateral engagement and
trade. The historic Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was concluded in
1996. India and Bangladesh are close strategic partners in counter-terrorism.
They are also the largest trading partners in South Asia. Two-way trade is
estimated to be over US $7 billion.
Main
Areas of contention :
1. A major area of
contention has been the construction and operation of the Farakka
Barrage by India to increase water supply in the river Hoogly.
Bangladesh insists that it does not receive a fair share of the Ganges waters
during the drier seasons, and gets flooded during the monsoons when India
releases excess waters.
2. There
have also been disputes regarding the transfer of Teen Bigha
Corridor to Bangladesh. Part of Bangladesh is surrounded by the Indian
state of West Bengal. On 26 June 1992, India leased three bigha land
to Bangladesh to connect this enclave with mainland Bangladesh. There
was a dispute regarding the indefinite nature of the lease. The dispute was
resolved by an mutual agreement between India and Bangladesh in 2011.
3. Terrorist
activities carried out by outfits based in both countries, like Banga
Sena and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. Recently India and
Bangladesh had agreed jointly to fight terrorism.
4. Bangladesh
has consistently denied India transit facility to the landlocked North
Eastern Regions of India. Although India has a narrow land link to this North
eastern region, which is famously known as the Siliguri Corridor or
"India's Chicken Neck"
5. Illegal
Bangladeshi immigration into India. The border is porous and migrants are
able to cross illegally, though sometimes only in return for financial or other
incentives to border security personnel. Bangladeshi officials have denied
the existence of Bangladeshis living in India and those illegal migrants found
are described as having been trafficked. This
has considerable repercussions for those involved, as they are stigmatized for
having been involved in prostitution, whether or not this has actually been the
case. Cross border migrants are also at far higher risk of HIV/Aids infection.
6. Continuous
border killing of Indian and Bangladeshi people, aiding illegal immigrants,
helping in armed dacoity, fake money transfer and illegal drug trades by
both Indian and Bangladeshi people are the major problems between Bangladesh
and India.
7. Both
Bangladesh and India make claims over the same seawater at the Bay of Bengal
before settlement of the issue.
8. There
was a minor glitch in their relation when former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh accidentally mentioned that 25% of Bangladeshis are anti-Indian, during
an informal press meet.
Border
killings of Bangladeshi civilians:
Deaths
of Bangladeshi citizens in the Indo-Bangladesh border became one of
the embarrassments between the two nation’s bilateral relations in recent
years. The so-called ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy by India’s Border Security
Forces (BSF) that according to Human Rights Watch killed
nearly 1,000 Bangladeshis between 2001 and 2011 has remained at the core of the
talks between Bangladeshi and Indian officials visiting each other.
The
Bangladeshi deaths caused by BSF shootings at the border became subject to a
so-called cyber war between the hackers of the two countries that
took the websites of BSF, National Informatics Centre and Trinamool
Congress as victims. The government of Bangladesh was found
to comment on the issue condemning the cyber attacks on Indian websites.
Recent
developments:
In
September 2011, the two countries signed a major accord on border demarcation
to end the 4-decade old disputes over boundaries. This came to be known as the
tin bigha corridor. India also granted 24-hour access to Bangladeshi citizens
in the Tin Bigha Corridor. The agreement included exchange of adversely
held enclaves, involving 51,000 people spread over 111 Indian enclaves in
Bangladesh and 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India. The total land involved is
reportedly 7000 acres.
On
9 October 2011, Indian and Bangladeshi armies participated in Sampriti-II
(Unity-II), a 14-day-long Joint military exercise at Sylhet to increase synergy
between their forces.
In
2012, Bangladesh allowed India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to
ferry heavy machinery, turbines and cargo through Ashuganj for Palatana
Power project in southern Tripura.
From
October 2013, India started exporting 500 megawatts of electricity a day to
Bangladesh over a period of 35 years. A 125-kilometre Baharampur-Bheramara
transmission line, 40 km of it in Bangladesh, connects the two
substations. Bangladesh officials believe the export would greatly ease the
national shortage once 500 MW flows into the national grid.
Indian
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Bangladesh in
her first official overseas trip in June, 2014. On 7 May 2015 the Indian
Parliament, in the presence of Bangladeshi diplomats, unanimously passed the
Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) as its 100th Constitutional amendment, thereby
resolving all 68-year old border disputes since the end of the British Raj. The
bill was pending ratification since the 1974 Mujib-Indira accords.
In
June 2014, during her first official overseas visit, Foreign Minister of India,
Sushma Swaraj concluded various agreements to boost ties. They include:
· Easing of
Visa regime to provide 5 year multiple entry visas to minors below 13 and
elderly above 65.
·
Proposal of a
special economic zone in Bangladesh.
·
Agreement to
send back a fugitive murder accused from India.
·
Provide an
additional 100 MW power from Tripura.
· Increase the
frequency of Maitree Express and start buses between
Dhaka
and Guwahati
and Shillong.
· Bangladesh
allowed India to ferry food and grains to the landlocked Northeast India's using its territory and infrastructure.
During
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Bangladesh during
June 2015 as many as 22 agreements were signed by two sides. During the visit
India extended a US$2 billion line of credit to Bangladesh & pledged US$5
billion worth of investments. As per the agreements, India's Reliance Power
agreed to invest US$3 billion to set up a 3,000 MW LNG-based power plant &
Adani Power will be setting up a 1600 MW coal-fired power plant at a cost of
US$1.5 billion. The two countries signed a total of 22 agreements
including the ones on maritime safety co-operation and curbing human
trafficking and fake Indian currency. Modi also announced a line of
credit of $2 billion to Bangladesh.
At
midnight on 31 July 2015, around 50,000 people became citizens of India or
Bangladesh after living in limbo for decades. Ending a prolonged dispute, the
two nations swapped 162 enclaves on the border region, allowing the people
living there to stay or opt out to the other country. While 14,214 citizens of
Bangladesh residing in 51 enclaves on the Indian side became Indians, a large
number of people in the 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh preferred to stay
with Bangladesh and just 979 opted to move to India. The total number of new
Indian citizens will be 15,193.
Energy
cooperation :
India
has recently introduced the concept of the Regional Power Trading System which
will help various regions of the country in reducing the power deficit by
transferring surplus power from another region. Under the Electricity Act 2003,
the Indian companies could pool power in an exchange. A consumer would be free
to buy it from anyone. This can ultimately form a regional power pool thereby
generating a huge opportunity for power trading in the region.
India
is also looking to export electricity from its north-eastern region with
potential to generate some 58,971 Mega Watt to its eastern States through
Bangladesh. Bangladesh hopes to have access to Nepal and Bhutan’s power through
India. Bangladesh has formally requested a ‘power corridor’ to access the
Bhutanese and Nepalese markets. It has agreed to allow India to transfer
hydroelectricity from Assam to Bihar through its territory. The proposed
meeting would attempt to remove irritants in project-related areas.
Development
cooperation:
India
is very active in development activity in Bangladesh.
India
has recently given several loans to Bangladesh. It gave $750 million for
developing Bangladesh infrastructure in 2011.
Lines
of Credit
$1
billion was given for the Padma Bridge which World
Bank refused. $862 million was given to buy equipment and services
from Indian entities such as BHEL, RITES, small and medium enterprises.
Small
development projects
India
announced a grant of nearly $10 million to Bangladesh for the implementation of
various small development projects and also assured it to address trade
imbalance issues.
Health
India and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding for
cooperation in the fields of health and medical sciences that will include
joint research in health and exchange of doctors and health professionals. The
MoU is aimed at promoting cooperation between the two countries in the fields
of health and medical sciences through exchange of scientific materials and
information and joint collaboration in research in medical science.
Trade
and investment :
The
two way trade is $7 billion. The trade is set to go at $10 billion by 2018
through ports. India is second in import destination for Bangladesh.
Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh stood at USD 6.6 billion in
2013-14 with India's exports at USD 6.1 billion and imports from Bangladesh at
USD 462 million, representing more than double the value of USD 2.7 billion
five years ago.
Bangladesh
Cabinet has approved a revised trade deal with India under which the two
nations would be able to use each other's land and water routes for sending
goods to a third country, removing a long-standing barrier in regional trade.
Under the deal India would also be able to send goods to Myanmar through
Bangladesh. It incorporated a provision that the deal would be renewed
automatically after five years if either of the countries did not have any
objection.
Sharing the water of the Ganges :
The sharing
of the Ganges waters between India and Bangladesh over
the appropriate allocation and development of the water resources of the Ganges
River that flows from northern India into Bangladesh. The issue has
remained a subject of conflict for almost 35 years, with several bilateral
agreements and rounds of talks failing to produce results.
However,
a comprehensive bilateral treaty was signed by the ex Indian Prime
Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and the then-Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina Wajed on December 12, 1996 in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
The treaty established a 30-year water-sharing arrangement and recognized
Bangladesh's rights as a lower-level riparian.
Background
:
Descending
from India's northern plains, the Ganges river forms a boundary of 129
kilometres between India and Bangladesh and flows for 113 km in
Bangladesh. At Pakaur in India, the river begins its attrition with
the branching away of its first distributary, the Bhagirathi River,
which goes on to form the Hooghly River. About 10 kilometres from the
border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage, built in 1974, controls the flow
of the Ganges, diverting some of the water into a feeder
canal linking the Hooghly to keep it relatively silt-free.
After
entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as the Padma
River until it is joined by the Jamuna River, the largest
distributary of the Brahmaputra River, which descends from Assam and Northeast
India. Further downstream, the Ganges is fed by the Meghna River, the
second-largest distributary of the Brahmaputra, and takes on the Meghna's name
as it enters the Meghna estuary. Fanning out into the 350 km wide Ganges
Delta, it finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. A total of 54 rivers
flow into Bangladesh from India.
Efforts
at resolution:
The
ex Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Bangladesh's founding
leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the wide-ranging Indo-Bangladeshi
Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace on March 19, 1972; as per the
treaty, the two nations established a Joint River Commission to work
for the common interests and sharing of water resources, irrigation, floods and cyclones control.
Farakka
Barrage:
The Farakka
Barrage is a dam on the Bhagirathi river located in the Indian
state of West Bengal, roughly 10 km (6.2 mi) from the border with
Bangladesh. India uses it to control the flow of the Ganges river.
The dam was built to divert the Ganges River water into the Hooghly River
during the dry season, from January to June, in order to flush out the
accumulating silt which in the 1950s and 1960s was a problem at the Kolkata
Port on the Hooghly River. Bangladesh claims that its rivers were
drying up because of excess drawing of water by India. In
May 1974 a joint declaration was issued to resolve the water–sharing issue
before the Farakka Barrage began operation. This was followed by an interim
agreement in 1975 to allow India to operate feeder canals of the
barrage for short periods.
However,
India withdrew from the process of negotiations by September 1976 as both
nations grew apart after the killing of Sheikh Mujib and establishment
of military rule. Bangladesh protested India's unilateral action at a
summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and at the 31st session of
the U.N. General Assembly. At the urging of other nations and the U.N.,
both India and Bangladesh agreed to resume dialogue, but with no results.
Temporary
agreements :
Bilateral
relations had improved in 1977 during the governments of the then-Prime
Minister Morarji Desai of India and the then-President Ziaur
Rahman of Bangladesh; in 1977 both leaders signed a 5-year treaty on
water-sharing, but this duly expired in 1982 without being renewed.
Bangladesh attempted to internationalize the affair by lobbying the U.N.
General Assembly and the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) without result at all.
1996
Treaty :
The
formation of an Awami League government under Sheikh Hasina Wajed,
the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, in 1996 led to a fresh thaw in bilateral
relations and both nations’ restarted negotiations. Both leaders met in the
Indian capital on December 12, 1996 and signed a 30-year, comprehensive treaty.
Both
nations were able to cooperate in harnessing the water resources; the treaty
also permits the construction of barrages and irrigation projects in Kushtia and
the Gorai-Madhumati River in Bangladesh, draining the southwestern districts and thus preserving
the environment, natural and economic resources.
Assessment
:
The
1996 treaty established a long-term solution and considerably eased the strains
in Indo-Bangladeshi relations. The 1996 treaty has been attacked by the
Awami League's main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP),
which is regarded as hostile to India, but it did not renege from the treaty
when it came to power in 2001. The BNP and other Bangladeshi political factions
allege that India is drawing excessive water and the amount allocated to
Bangladesh is unjust and insufficient. India in turn complains that the
water allocated to Bangladesh leaves it with less water than necessary for the
functioning of the Kolkata Port and the National Thermal Power
Corporation in Farakka.
Other
critics have also stressed environmental reasons for India to reconsider its
drawing of water at Farraka. Alarming increases in deforestation and erosion at
the upper levels of the Ganges river increases the deposition of silt at the
lower level, which is already measured at 2 million tonnes annually, along with
increased salinity have also led to desertification. In Bangladesh,
the diversion has raised salinity levels, contaminated fisheries, hindered
navigation and posed a threat to water quality and public health. Such
silt levels are believed to be adversely affecting the Hooghly river and the
Kolkata Port.
Tin Bigha Corridor :
The Tin (or Teen) Bigha
Corridor is a strip of land belonging to India on the West
Bengal–Bangladesh border which, in September 2011, was leased to
Bangladesh so that it can access its Dahagram–Angarpota enclaves.
History
:
According
to the Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Mujibur Rahman treaty of 16 May, 1974, India and
Bangladesh were to hand over the sovereignty of the Tin Bigha Corridor (178 by
85 metres (584 ft × 279 ft)) and South Berubari (7.39 km2 (2.85 sq mi))
to each other, thereby allowing access to the Dahagram–Angarpota enclaves and
the Indian enclaves adjacent to South Berubari. Bangladesh did hand over the
sovereignty of the smaller South Berubari to India instantly in 1974. India,
however, could not transfer the Tin Bigha
Corridor to Bangladesh as it required constitutional amendment which could not
be done due to political reasons.
After
much Bangladesh government protest, India, instead of handing over sovereignty
in 2011, proposed to lease the Tin Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh for a certain
time. South Berubari, meanwhile, would remain in the possession of India.
The
total area of South Berubari Union No. 12 is 22.58 km2 (8.72 sq mi)
of which 11.29 km2 (4.36 sq mi) was to go to Bangladesh.
The area of the four Cooch Behar enclaves which would also have to go to
Bangladesh was 6.84 km2 (2.64 sq mi) making the total area
to be transferred 18.13 km2(7.00 sq mi). The population of the
area including the four enclaves to be transferred, as per 1967 data, was 90%
Hindu. The Bangladesh enclaves, Dahagram and Angorpota, were to be
transferred to India. Their total area was 18.68 km2 (7.21 sq mi)
and as per 1967 data more than 80% of their population was Muslim. If this
exchange had gone through, it would have meant a change of nationality for the
population or migration of the population from Dahagram and Angorpota and South
Berubari Union No. 12 and consequent serious rehabilitation problems. There
were in any case major agitations by the people of Berubari protesting against
the transfer.
After
1971, India proposed to Bangladesh that India may continue to retain the
southern half of South Berubari Union No. 12 and the adjacent enclaves and, in
exchange, Dahagram and Angorpota may be retained by Bangladesh. As part of the
package a strip of land would be leased in perpetuity by India to Bangladesh,
giving her access to Dahagram & Angorpota in order to enable her to
exercise sovereignty on these two enclaves. This was accepted by Bangladesh as
part of a carefully constructed Land Boundary Agreement signed by Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in May 16,
1974. The Berubari dispute was thus finally resolved by Article 1.14 of the
Agreement which stated:
"India
will retain the southern half of South Berubari Union No. 12 and the adjacent
enclaves, measuring an area of 6.8 km2 (2.64 sq mi)
approximately, and in exchange Bangladesh will retain the Dahagram and
Angorpota enclaves. India will lease in perpetuity to Bangladesh an area of 178
by 85 metres (584 ft × 279 ft) near 'Tin Bigha' to connect
Dahagram with Panbari Mouza (P.S. Patgram) of Bangladesh."
Etymology
Tin is
the word for the numeral "three" in Bengali, and bigha is
a unit of area ranging from 1,500 to 6,771 m2(16,150–72,880 sq ft).
Access
to corridor
The
corridor was previously open for 12 daylight hours only, causing great
hardships for the inhabitants of the enclave, given the fact that the enclave
has no hospitals or law enforcement facilities.
Following
a treaty signed by the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh on September 6,
2011 in Dhaka, it was agreed that the corridor would be open for 24 hours
for Bangladeshis in the enclave to access the mainland.
The
corridor was officially declared open by the Bangladesh Premier Sheikh
Hasina on October 19, 2011.
Infrastructure
Until
recently, the enclaves had no hospitals or colleges. Bangladesh
Premier Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a ten-bed Dahagram Hospital and the
Dahagram Union Parishad Complex on October 19, 2011.
Indo-Bangla Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace:
The India-Bangladesh
Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace was a 25-year treaty that
was signed on March 19, 1972 forging close bilateral relations between India and
the newly established state of Bangladesh. The treaty was also known as
the Indira-Mujib Treaty, after the signatories of the treaty the Prime
Minister of India Indira Gandhi and the Prime Minister of
Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Background
:
During
the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, India provided extensive aid,
training and shelter for the exiled government of Bangladesh and Bengali
nationalist Mukti Bahini guerrilla force that was fighting the Pakistani
Army. Between 8 and 10 million refugees poured into India during 1971,
increasing tensions between India and Pakistan. At the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1971, the Joint Force including regular army of Bangladesh, Mukti Bahini
and the Indian Military liberated then East Pakistan, leading to
the establishment of Bangladesh. India's role in the independence of Bangladesh led to the development of strong
bilateral relations. Then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi spoke along with
Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before more than
500,000 people at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
Provisions
:
The twelve Articles
incorporated in the treaty were:
(i) The contracting
parties solemnly declare that there shall be lasting peace and friendship
between the two countries and each side shall respect the independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other and refrain from interfering
in the internal affairs of the other side;
(ii) The contracting
parties condemn colonialism and racialism of all forms, and reaffirm their
determination to strive for their final and complete elimination;
(iii) The contracting
parties reaffirm their faith in the policy of non-alignment and peaceful
co-existence as important factors for easing tension in the world, maintaining
international peace and security and strengthening national sovereignty and
independence;
(iv) The contracting
parties shall maintain regular contacts and exchange views with each other on
major international problems affecting the interest of both the states;
(v) The contracting
parties shall continue to strengthen and widen their mutually advantageous and
all round cooperation in the economic, scientific and technical fields, and
shall develop mutual cooperation in the fields of trade, transport and
communication on the basis of the principles of equality and mutual benefit;
(vi) The contracting
parties agree to make joint studies and take joint action in the field of flood
control, river basin development and development of hydro-electric power and
irrigation;
(vii) Both the parties
shall promote relations in the field of arts, literature, education, culture,
sports and health;
(viii) In accordance
with the ties of friendship existing between the two countries, each of the
contracting parties solemnly declare that it shall not enter into or
participate in any military alliance directed against the other party. Each of
the parties shall refrain from any aggression against the other party and shall
not allow the use of its territory for committing any act that may cause
military damage to or continue to threat to the security of the other
contracting parties;
(ix) Each of the
contracting parties shall refrain from giving any assistance to any third party
taking part in an armed conflict against the other party. In case if either
party is attacked or threatened to attack, the contracting parties shall
immediately enter into mutual consultations in order to take necessary measures
to eliminate the threat and thus ensure the peace and security of their
countries;
(x) Each of the parties
solemnly declare that it shall not undertake any commitment, secret or open,
towards one or more states which may be incompatible with the present treaty;
(xi) The present treaty
is signed for a term of twenty-five years, and shall be renewed by mutual
agreement;
(xii) Any differences
interpreting any Article of the treaty shall be settled on a bilateral basis by
peaceful means in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.
Expiration
of the treaty :
The
two governments declined to renegotiate or renew the treaty when it approached
expiry in 1997. Although initially received enthusiastically by both
nations, the treaty with India became the subject of resentment and controversy
in Bangladesh, where people saw it as unequal and an imposition of excessive
Indian influence. Issues such as the dispute over water resources of the Farakka
Barrage and India's perceived delayed withdrawal of troops began to
diminish the spirit of friendship. Sheikh Mujib's pro-India policies
antagonised many in politics and the military. Assassination of
Mujib in 1975 led to the establishment of military regimes that sought to
distance the country from India.
Mujib's
death led to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Pakistan and other
nations that had opposed the creation of Bangladesh, such as Saudi
Arabia and the People's Republic of China. Bangladesh was
criticised for allowing Indian secessionist groups such as the United
Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to operate from bases on its territory,
and Bangladeshi intelligence agencies were suspected of maintaining links
with Pakistan's intelligence agencies. Bangladesh in turn alleged that
India was supporting the Shanti Bahini insurgency in the Chittagong
Hill Tracts.
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