On Tuesday, Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka and discussed a “two-year road map for bilateral ties”. During the meeting, the two discussed the creation of a new monitoring mechanism, which will primarily review the development of bilateral projects. While speaking of this mechanism, Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said that, amongst others, this mechanism would monitor the development of the “Rampal Maitree power plant, India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, and rail links between Akhaura-Agartala and Chilahati-Haldibari and Khulna-Mongla rail line”, which are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. The Indian representative also proposed convening a review meeting to outline the “entire gamut of bilateral ties and development projects”.
The two parties agreed to increase India and Bangladesh’s collaboration on “latest technologies, disaster management, artificial intelligence, ecology and conservation and greater youth to youth engagement”. They placed special emphasis on maintaining “direct communication” despite the “COVID-19 situation”. In addition, Shringla and Hasina also discussed establishing an “air travel bubble” between India and Bangladesh for “business, official, and medical personnel”.
India’s relations with Bangladesh have seen some difficulties over the past few months. The problems crystallised following the adoption of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2019. The legal framework that developed following the passage of the two laws, in essence, provided minority religious communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan with citizenship in India. Further, several leaders of the BJP spoke of “sending back” illegal residents in India to Bangladesh. More recently, Bangladesh’s Border Guards also criticised India’s Border Security Force (BSF) for using disproportionate lethal force on the India-Bangladesh border.
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However, the two countries have been working hard to revive the decades-long friendship. Anurag Srivastava, said, “In the last few years, India and Bangladesh have amicably resolved complex issues, including the land and maritime border, and have taken several initiatives to boost connectivity and trade.”
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One aspect that is especially worrying for India is Bangladesh’s growing friendship with China. Recently, China decided that from July 1, 97% of Bangladeshi exports will be exempted from tariffs. As a consequence of this agreement, 8,256 Bangladeshi products will now be exported tariff-free to China. Trade relations are currently guided by the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, under which 3,095 products from Bangladesh are provided with duty-free access to China. Further, reports suggest that Bangladesh is set to receive a $1 billion loan from China for “the management of the Teesta River”, after the failure of the water-sharing negotiations with India. The project, which is set to start in December, will maintain water levels to prevent droughts from occurring in the non-rainy seasons.
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Addressing India’s insecurities on the issue, Bangladesh reassured India of their continuing friendship, despite its deepening economic relations with China. Bangladesh’s foreign minister, AK Abdul Momen, said, “We must not compare the relationships from an identical standpoint … Our ties with India are historic … rock-solid; it is a blood relation while economic issues mainly shaped our relations with China.” While Momen noted that China had removed taxes on 8,000 products, he reassured that this decision will not impact Bangladesh’s relationship with India. In fact, earlier this month, in a move that deepens Bangladesh’s effort to strengthen its friendship with India and resist diplomatic pressure by China and Pakistan, Bangladesh also decided to set up a memorial to commemorate the Indian soldiers that were martyred in the struggle for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
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