Bangladesh is India’s Natural and Strategic Ally

Abdul Mannan

Whenever there is a possibility of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister meeting her Indian counterpart,
whether it is across the border, in Bangladesh or in a third venue, peace-loving people on both
sides of the border and the media give it top priority and expect the most positive outcome of
these visits or talks between the Prime Ministers of both countries. Actually hype is created and
the mercury of the expectation amongst the people of both countries just shoots up.

India is surrounded on all sides by countries which once were part of the British India, excepting
Nepal and Bhutan. The British (actually the East India Company) tried unsuccessfully to occupy
Nepal a number of times but failed and finally, in 1816, a treaty was signed and peace was
established in Nepal though it had to cede some parts of its territory to the British East India
Company. The British never tried to occupy Bhutan but provided protection to the hermit
Kingdom. However, the current day Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar (India shares a
patch of border with Myanmar) all were part of the British Empire before 1947. Of these
Pakistan was carved out of the greater India.

In 1971, Bangladesh broke up with Pakistan and, after a bloody war of independence, emerged
as an independent country. During the nine-month Liberation War of Bangladesh the support of
the people of India and its government was total; sacrifices made by them unprecedented and in
the final phase of the war Indian soldiers shed blood with those of our freedom fighters. Actual
number of Indian soldiers killed in the war was never revealed officially but from published
unofficial sources it could be around six thousand.

The relationship of India with its immediate neighbours, especially with Pakistan and Nepal, has
not always been so good and with Pakistan it has fought four wars, winning all of them. Even
today India fights a protracted war with Pakistan over Kashmir, causing loss of life on both sides
of the border and there is no respite in sight. Pakistan actually fights a proxy war with India over
Kashmir through Pakistan trained cross border militants. That is what international observers
and media reveal.

In 2015, India and Nepal entered an impasse due to an undeclared economic blockade imposed
by India on the Indo-Nepalese border restricting movement of goods and commodities between
the two countries, especially petroleum products to Nepal. This resulted in Nepal getting closer
to China which was not necessarily in India’s favour for strategic reasons.

Though Sri Lanka is an island, the relationship between India and Sri Lanka could have been
better, resulting in a very strong presence of China in Sri Lanka notwithstanding the fact that Sri
Lanka is located in a very strategic location in the India Ocean. Sri Lanka is also situated on one
of the busiest trade routes that connects East with West.
Coming to India’s relationship with Bangladesh, for historical and strategic reasons it can be
nothing but warm and, needless to say, not only do both of the countries gain from such
warmth, but the gain for India is more than that of Bangladesh for two very important reasons –
security and trade. Though both the countries have always enjoyed a very close and warm
relationship, often signs of tension and cracks become visible due to political rhetoric by
politicians on both sides of the border.

From 1972 to the murder of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on
15 August 1975, the relationship between the two countries reached a very high level. Then
came the military rule of General Zia and his successor General Ershad, followed by that of
General Zia’s widow. As all three were politically bankrupt, they thrived on anti-Indian rhetoric
for the next twenty-one years. Zia even used the state machinery to provide sanctuary to North
East Indian secessionists inside Bangladesh and he was greatly helped by Pakistan’s infamous
military intelligence ISI.
After 1991 when Zia’s widow formed the government, the relationship between the two
countries took a nose dive. One of Begum Zia’s most powerful ministers audaciously
announced in the national parliament that it was the moral duty of the Bangladesh government
to help the North East Indian secessionists as India did to Bangladesh freedom fighters in 1971.
He not only wanted Bangladesh to be an accessory in creating unrest in India, as per the desire
of Pakistan’s ISI, but also compared our Liberation War to a secessionist movement. The
leaders of the terrorist organisation ULFA found a safe haven in Dhaka with the help of Begum
Zia’s government. During her second tenure (2001-2006), things deteriorated further when her
elder son Tarique Rahman with the help of a section of Bangladesh’s state machinery opened
routes for safe supply of arms through Bangladesh for use of the secessionists.

When Sheikh Hasina formed her government in 1996, things began to change. She began
uprooting the nexus of secessionists from Bangladesh soil. As the first tenure of Sheikh
Hasina’s rule was devoted to putting Bangladesh on the track of development and good
governance and the trial of the killers of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
making the remote seven states of India in the north east safer for its inhabitants was always on
her agenda. But unfortunately when her party Awami League could not win the election of 2001,
things vis-à-vis the security of North East Indian states again went back to square one. But
again when Sheikh Hasina formed government after winning a landslide victory in 2008, the
relationship between the two countries scaled new heights.

During the first tenure of Sheikh Hasina’s government, one of the most remarkable
achievements was signing the Ganges water sharing accord, a problem that had been hurting
the ecological balance of Bangladesh due to an inequitable share of Ganges water. This would
not have been possible if the then Indian government of Deve Gowda had not taken a pragmatic
approach to solving the problem.

However, many of the long outstanding problems that had existed since the partition of India in
1947 were solved during the reign of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the most
important of these being strengthening the connectivity between the two countries through
resuming long suspended rail and waterway links. The exchange of enclaves and the long
standing border disputes were also solved and the Indian Parliament showed a rare gesture of
goodwill when both houses of the Indian Parliament - Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha -
unanimously voted to ratify the Mujib-Indira accord of 1974 agreeing to exchange adversely
located enclaves and demark the boundaries.

One problem still remains a nagging issue, the Teesta water sharing issue, and the Indian
Prime Minister, time and again have clearly indicated that he hopes that it will also be solved
during his tenure as Indian Prime Minister. Only Paschimbanga’s Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee has to be convinced. India works on a federal system and the centre usually does not
take any decision bypassing the concerned state governments.

On the economic front, exports to India of Bangladeshi products have increased though still the
trade imbalance between the two countries is quite significant, going in favour of India. This year
Bangladesh’s exports to India are expected to reach one billion US dollar. Bangladesh has
agreed to allow transit and transhipment facilities to India using Bangladesh’s port facilities
though still the full potential is to be used by India. One of the reasons identified by analysts is
that Indian shippers are not aware of the existence of these facilities. However, the State of
Tripura has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this facility. To enhance the usage of the
available facilities there has to be more promotion in India done both by Bangladesh and India
and at the same time improve the total infrastructure inside Bangladesh, especially its port
facilities and road and rail links. The number of Bangladeshis travelling to India for different
purposes from tourism and medical checkups and business have increased manifold. Dhaka
houses India’s largest visa processing centres in the world and approximately 6,000 thousand
visas are processed in this and other visa centres inside Bangladesh. If every person travels
once a year and spends on an average 500 US dollars each the total amount of such money
pumped into the Indian economy would be approximately one billion dollar plus. That is a huge
amount of money by any standard.

In the neighbouring city of Kolkata of Paschimbanga on any given day a few hundred thousand
Bangladeshis can be found either shopping, taking a vacation or visiting relatives and friends.
During the Eid festivals, Puja or on New Years, the number explodes. Hospitals in Chennai,
Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata are full of Bangladeshi patients. Many Indian doctors
serve in Bangladeshi hospitals. According to official estimates about five hundred thousand
Indians work in Bangladesh’s different sectors, which include textile, readymade garments, IT,
pharmaceuticals and in service providing business that ranges from restaurants to beauty
parlours. As we go along, many more such opportunities will emerge which will benefit both
countries.

When the Prime Ministers meet, they should be discussing building newer steps on the
foundation of friendship that has already been built and pledge to curb political rhetoric that
damages the warmth of the relationship between the two countries. It will be more to India’s
benefit if they can win the hearts of people of Bangladesh. But in the end it will have to be a
win-win situation for both the countries remembering the fact that Bangladesh is not only a
natural ally but also a strategic ally of India and the alliance should always depend on the
respect for sovereignty and independence of both countries and it should be remembered that
both the countries are emerging as economic powers in the twenty first century. At the end,
synergy should be the outcome of the alliance between Bangladesh and India.