INDIA - BANGLADESH RELATION
Bangladesh and India are South Asian neighbours. Relations have been friendly, although sometimes there are border disputes. 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.
In 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, India intervened in December 1971 on behalf of East Pakistan and helped secure East Pakistan's independence from Pakistan as the state of Bangladesh.
WHY BANGLADESH SHOULD MATTER TO US
- The first reason is that the security of the northeastern states, of eastern India, and of India more widely is affected by what Bangladesh does or does not do.
- India and Bangladesh share over 40 rivers, and these rivers are vital for the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people in both countries. If we fail to be sensible and fair over river-water sharing with Bangladesh, we could well find ourselves in an equally hopeless downriver position someday, especially with China.
- India and Bangladesh are amongst the 12 countries that will be most severely affected by climate change. Bangladesh could lose up to 20% of its land as sea levels rise due to climate change and the ensuing turmoil in Bangladesh will be felt in neighbouring states of India (Assam, West Bengal, etc).
- In a globalising world where trade counts for so much, Bangladesh is one of our biggest trading partners. Given that it has been growing at over 5% per annum for the past decade and looks set to continue to grow, it is an economic asset.
DISPUTES BETWEEN INDIA AND BANGLADESH
- 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.
- Illegal migration since the 1971 war of independence of Bangladesh.
- 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"
- River dispute makes headlines every time there is a bilateral talk between India and Bangladesh. The dispute is regarding water sharing of River Teesta. Bangladesh wants a higher share than it gets now.
WATER SHARING DISPUTE BETWEEN INDIA AND BANGLADESH
GANGA RIVER DISPUTE : This issue has remained a subject of conflict for almost 35 years. Bangladesh complains that it does not get a fair share of the water in the dry season and some of its areas get flooded when India releases excess waters during the monsoons.
A comprehensive bilateral treaty was signed by Indian Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on 12 December 1996.
TEESTA RIVER DISPUTE : The Teesta river originates in Sikkim and flows through West Bengal as well as Bangladesh. India claims a greater share of the river's water.
Bangladesh demands a fair share of river waters during the dry season. Currently, its share is lower than that of India's.
Any treaty that increases share of water with Bangladesh will dry out northern region of West Bengal and will hurt farmers badly
In 2011 India and Bangladesh finalized an arrangement, by which India would get 42.5% and Bangladesh 37.5% while remaining 20% would flow unhindered in order to maintain a minimum water flow of the river.
This agreement was not signed due to opposition from chief minister of West Bengal.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA - BANGLADESH RELATION
- 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.
- 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.
- India will supply 100 megawatt (MW) of electricity in return for 10 Gigabits per second Internet bandwidth to North East. Bangladesh officials believe the export would greatly ease the national shortage.
