18th December 2020 | Daily Brief

 Prepare a note on the India-Bangladesh relations in the modern times.

India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as a separate and independent state and established diplomatic relations with the country immediately after its independence in December 1971. Both countries have recently signed seven agreements in areas ranging from hydrocarbons to agriculture and revived a cross-border railway line that was snapped 55 years ago which indicates the improving will of cooperation on both sides.

Relations between the two countries in recent times can be seen in positive light as shown by following developments:

1. Land boundary agreement of 2014: which was a long pending issue of contention between the two.
2. Extension of 2nd Line of Credit (LOC) worth US$ 2 billion to Bangladesh by India for it’s economic development.
3. Presidential visits from both sides since 2014 apart from visits by Prime ministers of both countries to increase cooperation across various sectors.
4. Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meetings in various areas of cooperation like energy, security, communications etc.
5. Space cooperation: with Indian ISRO now helping to launch Bangladeshi satellites on it’s launch vehicles too since 2018.
6. Continuously Increasing Bilateral trade between the two countries.(India has provided duty free quota free access to Bangladesh on all tariff lines except tobacco and alcohol under SAFTA).

However, there are some issues still unresolved between the two like:

1. Teesta water issue: On which negotiations have been ongoing for long
2. Farakka Barrage issue: Related to sharing of Ganga water especially after the impact of climate change on agriculture on both sides
3. Border smuggling and Security issues over porous borders.
4. Bangladeshi concerns over Citizenship amendment bill of India

Despite the issues, leadership from both countries have shown willingness to cooperate and resolve the issue. Bangladesh have shown itself to be a trusted partner of India over it’s concerns and this trust shouldn’t be taken for granted and maintaining good relations with Bangladesh should remain a high priority on our neighbourhood policy. The recent agreement on revival of the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link is a well-thought initiative in this regard and should be followed up with more cooperative action to help India integrate with it’s partners more positively.