Bargaining chip with India should be our diplomatic approach

Masum Billah: All have been set to receive Indian Prime Minister in  Dhaka. Dr. Manmohan Singh’s two-day official visit to Bangladesh will  focus on the entire  range of bilateral issues including  water resources  management, connectivity, cooperation in trade, security, border management and land boundary demarcation between India and Bangladesh. Long standing and unresolved issues between these two close neighbours are expected  to be settled through his visit. Though not all but many issues will see their settlement and the rest will see the beginning. To resolve the long standing issues are essential for India for her own sake first. As India aspires to be one of the economically and militarily upcoming leaders in the regional and global arena, she needs to seek Bangladesh’s cooperation and help. But she finds herself in a very challenging situation because of the growing importance of China. China attaches significant importance to Bangladesh because of its strategic location and contiguous maritime spaces. India’s interest in Bangladesh due to its strategic location as well as economic and political reasons proves more than China. Bangladesh is aware of this fact and her foreign policy also adopts the theory and practice of ‘don’t take the risk of annoying the next door neighbor which is a giant.”

The most prominent issue between India and Bangladesh stands as water sharing and maritime boundary disputes. Sharing the water of Teesta River and Gajoldoha barrage project has been the second most serious concerns for Bangladesh only after Ganges. It has affected the river flow downstream and disrupts navigability of the Teesta. The economy and ecology of Bangladesh in general and northern parts of in particular have already been seriously affected. The Tipaimukhi dam project is the new addition to the river-dam problems. It is known to us that in 2009 India and Myanmar laid claims roughly on 37000 sq km  of Bay of Bengal . Until the dispute is resolved Bangladesh would not be able to conduct any gas exploration in 28 blocks of Bay of Bengal. It may take several years to resolve the issue .Three issues that impede maritime settlement include claim over New Moore island, flow of the river Haribhanga and the demarcation of sea boundary. All these important issues need to be settled without making any delay. We hope these issues will be settled  through this visit.

Since the inception of Joint River Commission in the 1970s, the two countries have been in discussion over sharing waters of eight rivers such as Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumati, Dharala and Dudhukumar, Teesta and Feni-without reaching any agreement. This time a 15-year interim deal with 52-48( 52 percent for India and 48 for Bangladesh) water sharing will be singed keeping 20 percent  of the water for the river’- a member of
Bangladesh delegation  in the Joint River Commission has said“ This offer was put forwarded by India and we are considering  it. A long-term  deal will be signed later on after observing  the flow of water.”Mohsiur Rahman, adviser to Prime Minister told BBC that ‘experts are yet to know the volume of water of the Teesta. So we will measure the volume of water in the next 17 years. Later we will go for a permanent treaty.’ Indian water Resources Minister  Pwan Kumar Bansal  was scheduled to be at a Joint River Commission meeting before Monmohan’s visit but he cancelled his trip to Dhaka at the last moment which raises doubt whether it will bring any positive result of water sharing issue this time also.

Bangladesh has 51 enclaves inside Indian Territory and India has 111 enclaves inside Bangladesh.Indira-Mujib contract aimed at settling this issue but the dilly-dallying nature of Indian politicians has shown no headway in this regard. We don’t know whether this issue will find any settlement during Manmohan’s visit. Again, Bangladesh exporters have lots of allegations that their products often face severe tariff, para-tariff and non-tariff barriers and other bureaucratic tangles in India. Is there any indication to find this issue settled though Bangladesh businessmen
are urging the government to deal with the issue? Every year Indian BSF kills, maims and abducts hundreds of Bangladeshis in our border area. Thin Bigha Corridor, water sharing of common rivers and other issues remain unresolved because of India’s delaying tactics. Here not only Bangladesh’s interest but also India’s interest is concerned. So, sooner they are resolved, the better.

All Indian governments since 1947 repeatedly tried for political and economic integration of the seven sister states with the mainstream but the issue still remains as elusive as it was six decades ago. Why does India try for it? Because it will give India a viable opportunity for political and economic integration of North- Eastern states with its mainstream and will bring economic benefits for the people of this region. Insurgency in these states will also be lessened.Transit   will cut transport cost and travel time significantly. At present, a truck from Agartala has to make a week-long journey through convoluted route of 1750 km via Guwati to its nearest ports in Kolkata, and cost about Rs 5000. But when transit routes open, this distance will come down to about 450 km. If exporters from Tripura use Chittagong port, they would have to pay a mere fraction of current cost. The distance from Tripura border to Chittagong port is just 70 km. “From military point of view, transit through Bangladesh is a strategic necessity for India’s territorial security in north-east. India is quite vulnerable against China, claim of 90000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh. Transit through Bangladesh would finally allow them to build a strong defense line along the north –eastern border”-(DS September 03). The people in  the government of Bangladesh argue that Bangladesh will be able to earn a huge amount of transit fees if the transit route plan is being stretched to include Nepal and Bhutan as India actually wants it. It is just an illusion as we know that Bhuttan’s GDP is less than $2 billion and Nepal’s almost same. Besides, their economies enextricably integrated with Indian economy. So, extending this facility means extending it for India alone.

Some experts suggest that to give transit facility to India we can think of using railway as our roads are not useful and fit enough to ply heavy trucks. Moreover, it is not environment friendly rather contributes to environmental pollution. In this regard Gotthard Base Tunnel can be mentioned. It is the largest railway tunnel in the world. It is 57 miles long through the Alps and is situated in Switzerland. Its real owner is Swiss Federal Railway. It will reduce the distance between Jurich of Switzerland and Milan of Italy. To make this tunnel was felt when the Swiss people protested against running trucks for carrying goods as they were contributing to environmental pollution.  Before making this tunnel there was a
referendum in 1992 in which 64 percent voted supporting the idea. Accordingly the work was started in 1996 and was completed by 23rd March 2011. In 2016 Swiss Federal Railway will take the responsibility. The main purpose of building it is to increase the transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight, notably between Germany and Italy and more particularly to shift freight volume  from road to rail so as to reduce the environmental damage being caused by ever –increasing  number of ever-larger trucks. This reference contains another message that to take such kind of decision a referendum is a must as it is absolutely a political decision. We have not given any thought to this point.

Last of all we should bargain with India to use river transit routes. Our diplomatic drive must be nodded towards this important fact as we have failed to get due share of water from the common rivers. India needs water and so she is not responding to our request since 1970s. Now is the time to bargain with them putting emphasis  on  ‘give and take’ policy. If our efforts and arguments can convince India to use river routes, she will be encouraged to keep the rivers navigable. And this will be our diplomatic success. Some lame excuses have been raised in favour of giving transit facilities to India merely prove our weak foreign policy. Water sharing of common rivers is essentially an ecological and environmental issue while transit is mostly an economic and strategic matter. Again, China is a great player in this region. She must be considered in this connectivity.

(Masum Billah,Program Manager: BRAC Education Program,Cell: 01714-091431,Email: [email protected] )