Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
As a matter of fact, tension erupted in 2001 between the two governments when there was a heavy exchange of fire between the then BDR and BSF, and 16 BSF personnel died within Bangladesh territory
Photo- AFP
The engagement between the governments of Awami League and BJP during the late 90s and early 2000 was business as usual without pursuing a forward looking strategic direction to improve the ties to a new height, what was done during AL-Congress era.
There was not much development on the issue of water sharing, land boundary agreement and border killings, excluding signing of the Ganges water treaty in 1996 and Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Treaty 1997 during non-congress rule in India.
As a matter of fact, tension erupted in 2001 between the two governments when there was a heavy exchange of fire between the then BDR and BSF, and 16 BSF personnel died within Bangladesh territory.
According to the annual report 2001-2002 of Indian foreign ministry, it said: “The relationship between Bangladesh and India is complex and multidimensional, based on intricate tapestry of geographical, historical, cultural and social linkages. The regrettable border incidents [in the third week] of April 2001 were an aberration which the relationship survived due to common will of the two governments.”
Bangladesh and India has a multi-dimensional relationship ranging from political, economical, trade, to people to people contact. In this complex relationship, some remain as thorny issues which are yet to be removed
Water sharing: Water sharing of common rivers is considered the biggest thorny issue between the two countries. On many occasions, Bangladesh faced acute water crisis during the lean season, as India did not allow the 54 common rivers to flow free round the year. The downstream Bangladesh has little voice in managing the water flown in from India. The two countries have agreement on water sharing of only one river – Ganges. For over four decades, Bangladesh and India have been negotiating to hammer out a deal on water sharing of Teesta but it is yet to be materialised.
Land Boundary Agreement: The agreement was signed between the two countries in 1974 and Bangladesh ratified the agreement in the same year, but India is yet to ratify it. During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011, both the countries signed a protocol to implement the agreement.
Last year, amid huge resistance, India placed a bill in Rajya Sabha – the upper house of India – to amend the constitution to pave the way for ratification of the LBA and the protocol. The fate of the bill remained uncertain as BJP had strongly opposed any move to hurriedly settle border dispute with Bangladesh.
Border Killings: According to Human Rights Watch, Border Security Force of India killed over 1,000 Bangladeshis over the past 15 years. Both the countries share about 4,100km porous border and killings by BSF is very common in the border area as the force enjoys immunity. Time and again, the highest political level of India expressed their commitment to bring down the number of border killing to zero but it is yet to be transformed into reality.
Trade: The trade deficit between the two countries has been consistently growing. The deficit with India was $774 million in fiscal year 2000, $1,933 million in fiscal 2005, and $2,910 million in fiscal 2010. India unilaterally provided duty-free market access to all Bangladeshi products except 25 items in 2011, but still Bangladeshi exporters face para-tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Visa: About half a million Bangladeshis visit India every year but the process of issuance of Indian visa is cumbersome. It takes at least a month and even in some cases two months to get the visa, putting the visitors in trouble
The incident erupted on April 16, 2001 and continued for at least three days.
In a pre-dawn attack on April 18, nearly 300 BSF troops intruded approximately 600 metres into Bangladesh territory by cutting the barbed wire fence erected by their government in an attempt to capture BDR’s Boraibari Border Outpost (BOP) in Roumari Upazila in Kurigram.
Bangladeshi villagers were surprised to see advancing BSF troops, firing indiscriminately from mortar and machine guns. The volleys of gunfire and continuous shelling panicked the villagers as Indian troops were pushing through agricultural lands and dusty roads.
BDR personnel who manned the Boraibari BOP 600 metres inside Bangladesh territory immediately opened fire from light machine guns and automatic weapons. The Indian soldiers beat a hasty retreat under the barrage of gunfire from mounted positions in the fortified BDR outpost, which received reinforcements from three nearby BOPs to repulse the unprovoked attack.
A Reuter report quoting Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said India’s the then Home Secretary Kamal Pandey confirmed death of 16 BSF personnel.
The then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Dhaka in 1999 to inaugurate the bus service between Dhaka and Kolkata. During the visit, Indian side provided Rs200 crore line of credit and agreed in principle on giving duty-free market access for selected Bangladeshi products. The Bangladeshi government actively considered the proposal of transshipment to carry Indian goods through Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also visited New Delhi in 1998 and Kolkata in 1999 under official visits.
Exchanges of high level visits were a regular affair but not much progress has been made during that period.
Both the governments also signed an agreement to facilitate bus service between Dhaka and Agartala in 2001 and Indian visa regime was made relatively flexible to facilitate more “people-to-people” to contact in the same year.
Source: Dhaka Tribune