Reflections on India-Bangladesh Relations
Pranay Verma
High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh.
Our relationship with Bangladesh is long-standing and
unique. We are linked by a shared
history, a shared geography, in addition to a common language and culture. We
both seek, and value, a relationship based on mutual trust and understanding,
and mutual respect. There is broad shared empathy between our people, much of
which can be traced back to Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971. Regardless of
how it may be characterized, it is a people-centric relationship. People and
public-opinion shape our relations more than we realize.
As a neighbour to whom we take a long-term view of our
relations, our ties with Bangladesh derive strength from our belief that our
peace, security, progress and prosperity are interlinked. And therefore, we
strive to create common stakes in our mutual prosperity through a robust
framework of multifaceted cooperation. Both of us are important stakeholders in
the peace, security and development of Bay of Bengal. We also share a common
biosphere and ecological environment, which makes our collaboration vital to
address shared challenges such as environmental sustainability and climate
change.
Because of its geographical location, emerging capacities,
and growing regional and global ambitions, Bangladesh is not just a pillar of
our “Neighbourhood First” Policy, but sits at the intersection of most of
India’s key foreign policy visions – such as the “Act East Policy”, the
doctrine of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in Region), as well as our
Indo-Pacific Vision.
We believe ours is a relationship of great consequence, not
just for the two of us, but also for our region, given our growing capacities
and aspirations to get more integrated by leveraging each other’s strengths and
complementarities. Bangladesh is uniquely poised to advance the integration
agenda under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), being located at the geographical, political
and economic centre of gravity of the region and also as the host of BIMSTEC’s
headquarters.
Many transformative changes that have taken place in our relations and which unlocked the growth potential of the region, are results of mutual sensitivity we have shown to each other’s concerns and aspirations. Bangladesh’s “zero- tolerance” to terrorism and its determination of not sheltering insurgencies targeting India, proved vital for our cooperation and prosperity. It will remain an important factor in the future development of our two countries, our region and our relationship.
One of our biggest achievements – the resolution of our
maritime and land boundaries, has opened up whole host of avenues for our land
and maritime connectivity as well as cooperation in blue economy. Our maritime
boundary settlement, by referring the matter to the Permanent Court of
Arbitration and then following its ruling in letter and spirit, is a fine
example of how the principle of democratic and rules based international order
that we strongly believe in, has found reflection in our bilateral conduct.
A key manifestation of the transformation of our
multifaceted partnership, that has directly benefitted the people of both our
countries, is our growing trade and economic engagement, and our connectivity
links.
Today, Bangladesh is our largest trade partner in South Asia
and the fifth largest in the world. India under SAFTA has unilaterally given
duty-free, quota-free access to all goods from Bangladesh for more than a
decade now, which has enabled greater exports from Bangladesh to India.
We often hear concerns about trade deficit for Bangladesh,
but it is important to appreciate that much of India’s exports to Bangladesh
either constitute critical inputs for a large part of Bangladesh’s exports, or
are supplies of essential commodities that help Bangladesh deal with
inflationary pressures.
Actually, a less appreciated fact is that India is now among
the largest export markets for Bangladesh in the entire Asia, with Bangladeshi
exports to India consistently hovering around 2-billion-dollar mark over the
last few years. And we do want this number to grow.
We strongly believe that connectivity is a major enabler
that help our societies, our businesses and our people to closely connect and
benefit from each other. And we have made quite some progress.
With a contiguous geography and a long shared-history, in
many ways, we are actually trying to reconnect our two countries. We have
restored six of the seven pre-1965 railway links for both passengers and goods.
A major part of our bilateral trade and people-to-people movement are channeled
through thirty-six functioning Land Customs Stations, five of which have been
upgraded to the level of Integrated Check Posts. Just earlier this month, we
added new infrastructure at Petrapole Integrated Check Post that will
significantly enhance cargo movement and passenger convenience.
Today, Bangladesh RMG exporters are using three large Indian
airports – Kolkata, Delhi and Bengaluru – as highly cost-effective
transshipment hubs for their exports to third countries, making Bangladeshi
products much more competitive in western markets. Our deep-sea ports are ready
to offer similar advantages to Bangladeshi exporters.
Our connectivity links are not limited to trade and
transport. We are also building robust
energy connectivity. Some of the
examples are – a new cross-border diesel pipeline launched last year bringing
high-speed diesel from an Indian refinery to Bangladesh; the cross-border power
transmission lines uninterruptedly supplying nearly 1200 MW of power from
Indian power grid to Bangladesh; and the first transmission of 40 MW of power
from Nepal to Bangladesh through the Indian grid just two days ago. All these
are examples of how our energy connectivity and collaboration is augmenting our
energy security and contributing to creation of a true regional economy.
In short, our approach to connectivity is a simple one – it
is about transforming our geographical proximity into new economic
opportunities, that benefit people of both our countries and also the entire
region.
Our belief that people are the foundation of our relations
was evident when COVID-19 struck us and when we opened our arms to help each
other. It is also evident in our large
visa operations in Bangladesh, where despite current limited operations, we
continue to issue more visas to Bangladeshi citizens each day than any other
diplomatic mission in Dhaka.
As custodians of our future relationship, youth are
obviously an important stakeholder in our partnership. This is evident in
nearly a thousand scholarships every year that India offers to Bangladeshi
youths and young professionals, including from civil society and media,
belonging to all regions and affiliations. Just two months ago, more than five
hundred highly talented Bangladeshi students left for higher education in some
of India’s premier educational institutions on our ICCR scholarship. Our
Bangladesh Youth Delegation, or the BYD programme as it is popularly known, is
another robust platform for our youth outreach that today has a proud,
nationwide alumni network.
To sum it all up, India will continue to seek a stable,
positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh in which our people are
the main stakeholders. We have and will
continue to support a democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh.
We remain committed to working together with the government
and people of Bangladesh to fulfill the shared aspirations of our peoples for
peace, security and development. And we strongly believe that our partnership
must benefit the common people on both sides.
Both India and Bangladesh are today far more developed and
capable than they were ever before. And
we also depend on each other far more today than we ever used to, as our
economies and development paths continue to intertwine. We must keep
reinforcing our interdependencies.
As two aspirational societies with growing economic
capabilities, there is so much we can offer to each other, and create new
opportunities if we continue to engage closely, pragmatically and
constructively with each other. A strong and prosperous Bangladesh, we believe,
is vital for India just as a strong and prosperous India is for Bangladesh.
And, a final reflection.
The fact that our trade and economic ties, our transport and energy
connectivity, and our people-to-people engagements have sustained a positive
momentum, despite the turbulent changes in Bangladesh, shows that our relations
are truly multifaceted, and cannot be reduced to a single agenda or issue.
There are irritants but they have not restricted the overall forward movement
in our relations. As two nations whose progress and prosperity are as
inter-linked as our geographies and historical roots, the reality of our
interdependence and mutual benefit will keep reasserting itself over and over
again, regardless of changes in the political wind.
We must shape the course and narrative of this very
important relationship, with objectivity and with empathy.
[The article is based on High Commissioner Verma’s recent
address at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2024 hosted by the Centre for
Governance Studies in Dhaka.]