Indo-Bangla Relations: Boarder Management and Connectivity

--Wali-ur Rahman

As the process of globalization arrives at a new crossroads, with changing strategic matrix especially marked by the spectacular rise of India especially as an economic powerhouse, Indo-Bangladesh relations needs to be revisited and invigorated with a vision of constructing a functional South Asian community. Bangladesh’s relationship with India has always been special and of special. Our relationship is built upon a shared history, which dates back to more than four millennia. It is a history of peace, friendship and cooperation. Connectivity of people, minds, goods and ideas played perhaps the most important role to strengthen this bond of history.

India’s strategic and moral support during the critical days of Bangladesh’s great Liberation War gave Indo-Bangladesh relations a whole new dimension. Bangladesh proudly values this bond of relationship. We believe that India-Bangladesh relation is tasted by time and that gives us a reassurance that the spirit of cooperation will expand horizontally and vertically both in political and strategic dimensions.

A tectonic shift is gradually taking place in global geopolitics. Nothing better demonstrates this gradual but inevitable shift than the dramatic rise of Asia with China, India and Japan as the key players. Asia is reclaiming its lost economic (and therefore strategic) preeminence in the world. As a matter of fact, Asia is already working as ballast against the subaltern effect of globalization. Asia's growing strength is underlined by the fact that China, India and Japan with Taiwan and South Korea in the tow, account for about $3 trillion in western debt.

As our nearest neighbor and friend surrounding three sides of the country India is important for Bangladesh. India’s prosperity will have a tickle down effect on all its neighbors including Bangladesh. On the top of that we will have to make a niche in both politico-strategic, economic, societal and cultural areas to get as much as we can get as a small country. According to a survey of Goldman Sachs of Wall Street in the next 15 years the four largest economies of the world will be following:

China
USA
India
Japan

Most recently Price Waterhouse Coopers has also published a study on about the same line. Sri Lanka had foreseen this 10 years ago. From a deficit export to India, Sri Lanka has now managed to bring the trade balance in their favor by signing an FTA. There are 25 flights per day from Colombo to various Indian cities. Why can’t we follow the example of Sri Lanka? We have to remember that saying of British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerstone “There is no permanent enemy, there is no permanent friend, the only permanent thing is interest”

Indo-Bangla relationship is thus based on certain historic desiderata. The economic and military disequilibria is not a hindrance it is rather a strength. India is an Asian giant, on the way to be a big power. The NSSP with the US and the slow but gradual development of strategic partnership with Japan lent India an astounding level of strategic depth and geo-strategic height. India continues to be the largest trading partner of Bangladesh in Asia, with formal and informal trading together. With the removal of non-tariff and other barriers, Bangladesh will find in India a healthy trading and business destination. With possible investment in power sector and regional collaboration with India as the key player, Bangladesh stands to gain. Transshipment and Asian Highway will lend the historic connectivity lost due to the short sightedness of our leaders in the recent past. We have demonstrated in a research that Bangladesh will make Tk. 500 crore to Tk. 5000 crores as annual transit fees through transshipment alone. The fresh air to be brought in by the government of Sheikh Hasina will be our 'Plimsoll line' in considering our national security matters. We stand to gain more than any other country. To think otherwise will, in my view, be reductionism.

BORDER MANAGEMENT

Bangladesh and India share an international land boundary of about 4156 kms, of which 6.5 kms still remain un-demarcated.

Issues Pertaining to Land Boundary

     a)    Three issues-

• Un-demarcated land boundary in three sectors viz. Daikhata (West Bengal), Muhuri-Belonia (Tripura) and Lathitila-Dumbari (Assam);
• Exchange of enclaves: and
• Exchange of adverse possessions

• Indira and Mujib Essentially flow from Land Boundary Agreement (LBA)  

          1974 signed between
                .

•      LBA 1974 addressed a total of 16 issues (15 under article 1+ one relating to adverse possessions under Article 2) of which 12 have been implemented successfully (the four unresolved issues being Muhuri-Belonia (Tripura), Lathitila-Dumbari (Assam), enclaves and adverse possessions). In view of this, and in view of the fact that India and Bangladesh share almost 4,096 km of land boundary, it is a reasonable assessment to make that the two countries have made good progress is managing their land boundary and on LBA.

•      Ultra rightist fringe Media generally tends to focus on resolved bits pertaining to LBA – and its non-ratification by India – thereby failing to put the issue in proper perspective.

•      There is a joint bilateral mechanism called Joint Boundary Working Group created in 2001 with mandate of making recommendations pertaining to the three issues mentioned above (i.e. undemarcated boundary, enclaves and adverse possessions). Last meeting of JBWG, took place in July 2006. Nevertheless, a breakthrough of sorts was achieved when the two sides made a first-ever joint visit to some enclaves and adverse possessions in May 2007 to assess ground conditions.

• The position on three outstanding issues is as below:

I.         Undemarcated land boundary –
Daikhata – 56 (West Bengal) – about 19 acres under Indian possession and 72 acres under Bangladeshi possession.

Muhuri-Belonia (Tripura) – about 44 acres under Indian possession; and

Lathitila – Dumabari (Assam) – about 75 acres under Bangladeshi possession.

Both sides have conflicting interpretations of claims to each of these territories.

• Enclaves – 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh comprising about 17,000 acres and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India comprising about 7,100 acres. List was jointly reconciled in April 1997.
• Adverse Possessions – No jointly reconciled estimate (except in South Berubari-West Bengla. Rough estimates indicate that Bangladesh holds about 2,700-3,000 acres in adverse possession while India holds about 2,900-3,500 acres under adverse possession.

Possible New Approach

• Since each side has a different interpretation of LBA on these three issues, it would require a political give and take to settle them. Further, it is desirable that all these are settled in one package as it is difficult to gather political momentum again and again. One possible new approach could be below:
• Settle for status quo in undemarcated areas – it would mean that Bangladesh would retain about 147 acres of territory in its current possession and India would retain about 63 acres of territory in its possession. This would also mean that there would be no disposition of territory and people would not have to relocate – a major political factor that must be kept in mind for any solution to be practical and durable.
• Exchange enclaves as per LBA – it would mean that Bangladesh would get about 17,000 acres of territory belonging to India in Bangladesh, while India would get about 7,100 acres of Bangladeshi territory in India. People can be given right to choose citizenship of India/Bangladesh as per LBA but given there decades-old ties to lands they are living on, it is unlikely that there would be a major movement of people, especially after it is made clear that LBA does not oblige any compensatory land/payment to those willing to relocate to another country. Again, there would not be any dispossession of territory because the enclaves are under only national control of the country they belong to.
• Settle for status quo in adverse possessions – it would mean that Bangladesh would retain about 2,700-3,000 acres in its possession while India would retain about 2,900-3,500 acres in its possession. Again, people in adverse possessions can be given right to choose citizenship on India/Bangladesh as per LBA,given their decades-old ties to lands they are living on, it is unlikely that there would be a major movement of people, especially after it is made clear that LBA does not oblige any compensatory land/payment to those willing to relocate to another country. Besides adverse possessions unlike enclaves, are already under direct administration of the country occupying them. So, this approach would imply that there would not be any disposition of control of the territory.
• While the above-mentioned possible new approach has the merit of practicality and least adverse impact on people living in those territories, its chief disadvantage is that it would require some concession by India since it would lead to an overall gain of territory for Bangladesh by about 9,600-9,900 acres.

Issues Pertaining to Illegal Cross-border Movement

• Broadly speaking, these relate to incidents of smuggling of narcotics like phensidyl, killing along the border, fake currency, arms and ammunition and cattle, movement of criminals from both sides involved in human trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. While some of these have security dimension, others have a human/economic dimension.
• There are two major bilateral mechanisms that deal with these issues – annual Home Secretary – level talks (last held in August 2007 in Delhi now it is being held in 30 Nov. 2009) and biannual DG – level talks between BDR-BSF (last held in October 2007 in Dhaka).
• While there has been a tremendous improvement in situation along the border and in cooperation between BDR-BSF in the last one year, we must ask whether these for a give adequate attention to the human/economic side of the problem.      

CONNECTIVITY

European experience of connectivity sets good examples for South Asia. The French and the German who fiercely fought against each other in the Battle of Somme (1916) has been transformed into friends, thanks to connectivity. It should be kept in mind that throughout the height of the Cold War , the Eastern European countries used the transit facilities of Western Europe in order to do their business through the ports of Europe , whether it was Rotterdam, whether it was through Geneva, there were regular protocols. The Danube was the major international waterway which was used by the Eastern European countries.

Though as always some will disagree, but the beauty of globalization is that Good roads make good neighbors! There have been many initiatives in South Asia to promote connectivity. Asian Highway Network and Kunming Initiave are two examples where the civil society took a leadership role. Though geo-political considerations and in most part myopic political perceptions often made roadblocks to such ideas, the civil society has always worked for bridging the conceptual gaps among the various segments of the society starting from the politicians to the policymakers through research and dialogues.

In Bangladesh, politicization of connectivity has been an Achilles hill that has long been hindering the country to extract the benefits of regional trade. The phenomenal rise of India and China is not a prediction anymore—it is a reality with which we have to attune ourselves. China and India are the economic powerhouses of the world and there is no way to deny that. Therefore it is for our own interest we have to connect ourselves with our rising neighborhood. I am happy to inform you vthat Bangladesh has already ratified the ESCAP Asian Highway roadmap which will facilitate transit and transshipment facilities between India and Bangladesh. 

No country can remain isolated from the regional economy and technological development.

Alternatively, Bangladesh may shut the rest of the world out and sit idle watching the rest connect with global and regional market. This is not possible during the 21st century as globalization has linked the world through communications, migration, investment and trade. We are fortunate enough as we have been able to take a good decision to join Asian Highway.

Bangladesh can achieve the economic revolution in the country through interconnectivity within the region. With the right policy and leadership in place, we have a sense of assurance that Bangladesh has every potentiality of becoming an "economic tiger" within the region.

Bangladesh and India both recognize the importance of bilateral and regional connectivity. Both countries have discussions on designating Ashuganj as a new port of call under Article-23 of the Inland Water Transit and Trade Agreement as well as the use of Chittagong port by India. Bangladesh has agreed to provide access to Ashuganj Port to facilitate the transportation of the Over Dimensional Consignments for the Palatana Power Project in Tripura. Indian side agreed to facilitate Nepal-Bangladesh and Bhutan-Bangladesh connectivity. And Bangladesh has already signed an agreement with Bhutan during the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Bhutan. The agreement allows Bhutan to use 3 entry points to trade using Mongla port.

I recall in this connection my statement at the first BCIM Forum that:
"Cooperation brings harmony, cooperation builds confidence and thus cooperation brings benefit. Finally cooperation allows countries to become more competitive. Compete or contract-that has always been talisman of economic growth and social benefit-i.e. development with a human face. If we are together we can easily be a force to reckon with."

Time has now come when Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka should consider the European model as the stepping stone towards building a South Asian community. Bangladesh military needs to be qualitatively strengthened through the method of best practice so that a truly democratic Bangladesh can be built.

Concluding Remarks