India, Bangladesh seal border pact as Modi visits

By AFP

Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajid (R) welcomes her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi (L) at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
DHAKA: Bangladesh and India on Saturday sealed a historic land pact to swap territories, which will finally allow tens of thousands of people living in border enclaves to choose their nationality after decades of stateless limbo.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi waves as he leaves the plane on his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Foreign secretaries of the two nations signed a protocol and exchanged instruments of ratification to make operational the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) in the presence of visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina.
The two premiers also inaugurated two bus services connecting the Bangladeshi capital with four eastern India cities as part of a raft of deals the two countries are expected to sign to deepen bilateral ties.
Modi’s first trip to Dhaka since his election win last May has been dominated by the deal to fix permanently the contours of a border which stretches some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) along India’s eastern flank.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (2L-front) inspects the Bangladeshi guard of honour on his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
While Delhi’s relations with China and Pakistan continue to be dogged by border disputes, the LBA’s ratification removes a thorn that has troubled relations between the two countries since Bangladesh’s 1971 war of secession from Pakistan.
An agreement on the ownership of 162 enclaves — essentially islands of land resulting from ownership arrangements made centuries ago by local princes — had proved elusive in the decades since.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (L) receives a floral bouquet from a young girl as Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajid looks on at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Bangladesh actually endorsed the deal in 1974 but it was only last month that India’s parliament gave its approval, teeing up Saturday’s joint ratification ceremony between Modi and his counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
Under the agreement, the countries will exchange territories, with 111 enclaves being transferred to Bangladesh and 51 to India.
People living in the enclaves will be allowed to choose to live in India or Bangladesh, with the option of being granted citizenship in the newly designated territories, and the enclaves would effectively cease to exist.
Around 50,000 people are thought to live in the landlocked islands and lack many basic services such as schools, clinics or utility services because they are cut-off from their national governments.
Modi, who was received by Hasina at the airport, has compared the agreement to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, saying it marks “a watershed moment in our ties with Bangladesh”.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi gives a traditional greeting as he exits the plane on his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Bangladesh has been similarly effusive, with Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali forecasting it “would open a new chapter” in ties.
India’s Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the deal would help combat smuggling of people, drugs and illegal currency.

“The enclaves in the past have been territories out of bounds for law enforcement agencies, often they have been misused to seek refuge by elements who have been undermining law and order,” he told reporters.
“So the clarity and discipline, which will come from the clearly demarcated borders will help the the land border between the countries much more secure.”
Wary of China’s growing interest in India’s backyard, Modi has been keen to play a greater leadership role in South Asia since coming to power.

Officials on both sides said Modi’s visit would also see the signing of around 20 agreements aimed at boosting trade and transport links, including deals on the movement of goods across borders and rail projects.
Just an hour after Modi’s arrival, top Indian conglomerates Reliance Power and Adani signed outline agreements with Bangladesh’s state-run electricity agency to invest some $5 billion in the country’s rickety power sector.
“Top officials of Bangladesh’s Power Development Board (PDB) and those from Reliance Power and Adani signed the deals in Dhaka to generate 4,600 megawatts of electricity,” PDB spokesman Saiful Hasan told AFP.
But a breakthrough in a dispute about the sharing of water from the Teesta river which flows through both nations is not expected.
Modi’s talks with Zia will also be closely watched by observers with the opposition leader’s long-running calls for fresh elections having gained little traction.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (R) walks to inspect the Bangladeshi guard of honour on his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015.  PHOTO: AFP
Indian officials have played down the idea of Modi playing a mediation role in the dispute between Hasina and Zia but would instead pressure Zia to ensure an end to anti-government attacks.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (C) inspects the Bangladeshi guard of honour on his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on June 6, 2015. -AFP
Scores of people have been killed in firebomb attacks on vehicles since Zia called a transport blockade at the start of the year in a bid to topple Hasina.
India held off from criticising Hasina’s re-election in January 2014 in a contest that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as “not credible” by Western nations
Curtsey:Tribune.com Published: June 6, 2015

Modi in Bangladesh to conclude land swap agreement

AFP | AP  DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a two-day visit to neighbouring Bangladesh during which he and his hosts will conclude a landmark land swap agreement to settle a border dispute.
Bangladesh actually endorsed the deal in 1974 but it was only last month that India's parliament gave its approval, teeing up Saturday's joint ratification ceremony between Modi and his counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
It calls for the transfer of 111 border enclaves to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that will become part of India.
Under the agreement, the countries will exchange territories in India's northeastern states Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and eastern West Bengal. People living in the enclaves will be allowed to choose to live in India or Bangladesh, with the option of being granted citizenship in the newly designated territories, and the enclaves would effectively cease to exist.
Around 50,000 people are thought to live in the landlocked islands and lack many basic services such as schools, clinics or utility services because they are cut-off from their national governments.
Relations between India and its smaller neighbour have significantly improved after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised her administration would not allow India's separatist insurgents to use the porous 4,000-kilometre border to carry out raids into India.
While Delhi's relations with China and Pakistan continue to be dogged by border disputes, the Land Boundary Agreement's ratification will remove a thorn that has troubled relations between the two countries since Bangladesh's 1971 war of secession from Pakistan.
India's intervention on behalf of the independence fighters proved decisive in that conflict and successive Bangladeshi governments have enjoyed close ties with their giant neighbour.
But an agreement on the ownership of 162 enclaves — essentially islands of land resulting from ownership arrangements made centuries ago by local princes — had proved elusive in the decades since.

'Watershed moment'

Modi has compared the agreement to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall which marks “a watershed moment in our ties with Bangladesh”.
Bangladesh has been similarly effusive, with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali forecasting it “would open a new chapter” in ties.
India's Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the deal would help combat smuggling of people, drugs and illegal currency.
"The enclaves in the past have been territories out of bounds for law enforcement agencies, often they have been misused to seek refuge by elements who have been undermining law and order," he told reporters. "So the clarity and discipline, which will come from the clearly demarcated borders will help the land border between the countries much more secure."
Wary of China's growing interest in India's backyard, Modi has been keen to play a greater leadership role in South Asia since coming to power.
Officials on both sides said Modi's visit would also see the signing of around 20 agreements aimed at boosting trade and transport links, including deals on the movement of goods across borders and rail projects.
"Regional connectivity and trade would be expanded by signing these deals. We are working to create facilitated mobility corridors for internal trading between the two countries," Ali told reporters.
The top Indian conglomerates Reliance and Adani are also expected to sign outline agreements to invest billions of dollars in Bangladesh's rickety power sector, according to the national electricity board.
But a breakthrough in a dispute about the sharing of water from the Teesta river which flows through both nations is not expected.
Modi's talks with Zia will also be closely watched by observers with the opposition leader's long-running calls for fresh elections having gained little traction.
Indian officials have played down the idea of Modi playing a mediation role in the dispute between Hasina and Zia but would instead pressure Zia to ensure an end to anti-government attacks.
Scores of people have been killed in firebomb attacks on vehicles since Zia called a transport blockade at the start of the year in a bid to topple Hasina.
India held off from criticising Hasina's re-election in January 2014 in a contest that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as “not credible” by Western nations.
Curtsey .DAWN.OM June 7,2015

Modi blames Pakistan for spreading terrorism in India
DAWN.COM 

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks after signing an agreement with Bangladesh government in Dhaka June 6, 2015. —Reuters
DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address at Dhaka University on Sunday blamed Pakistan for spreading terrorism and fear in neighbouring India, according to a report on Hindustan Times website.
"Pakistan aaye din India, jo naako dum la deta hai, terrorism ko badhawa deta hai... ki ghatnaayein ghatthi rehti hain," PM Modi said in his address to Dhaka University on Sunday.
(Every now and then Pakistan keeps disturbing India, creates nuisance, promotes terrorism and such incidents keep recurring.)
"Terrorism has no boundaries. India has been troubled by it for the last 40 years. So many innocent people have died and what did those associated with terrorism gain and what have they given to the world... Terrorism has no values, no principles, no traditions and it has only one motive and that is enmity against humanity," he said.
He invited Bangladesh to join hands with India to counter terrorism and create peace, while he spoke at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center in Dhaka before his departure on June 7.
"If we had a diabolic mindset, we do not know what decision we would have taken," he said, reminding the students of how India had intervened in Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war.
Modi's two day visit to Bangladesh reaffirmed the two countries "unequivocal and uncompromising position against extremism and terrorism in all forms and manifestations" declaration.
This land swap declaration also ensured that the thousands of people living near the Bangladeshi and Indian borders will be allowed to choose their nationality.
They agreed upon sharing classified information relating to any terrorist or threatening activities along the adjoining borders.
Additionally, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in collaboration with PM Modi also inaugurated a convenient bus service along the border.
Previously, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, in a shocking and radical statement, had asserted that terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists.
“India will take proactive steps to prevent a 26/11 type attack,” Press Trust of India had quoted him saying.
The adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz had expressed serious concern over the statement made by the Indian defence minister that India will use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries.
“It must be the first time that a minister of an elected government openly advocates use of terrorism in another country on the pretext of preventing terrorism from that country or its non-state actors,” the national security advise had said.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that his Indian counterpart’s statement about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism had confirmed “our assertions of Indian involvement in terrorist activities on Pakistani soil”.
He had said that Parrikar's statement was a blatant admission of sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.
“This is the worst kind of declaration by a state functionary of cabinet level which confirms that India is sponsoring terrorism against its neighbours in the name of preventing terrorist activities,” the minister said had in a statement.
Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif said that contours of future wars are fast changing.
"While our enemies supporting terrorism to stoke sub-conventional conflicts and destabilise our country, we are fully determined, capable of defeating nefarious designs," the army chief had said.
"Pakistan is opposed to the use of proxies against other countries and won't allow any country to use proxies versus Pakistan," he added.
General Raheel's statement follows a flurry of similar assertions that India is involved in stoking terrorism in Pakistan. In recent weeks, the military and civilian leadership have expressed serious concerns of India's "nefarious designs", with top government officials saying India is attempting to sabotage Pakistan's historic $46 billion agreement with China.
The Pakistan Army last month asserted that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is involved in terrorism in Pakistan.
Taking strong exception to the statement made by the Indian defence minister about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism, the Senate's Standing Committee on Defence last month adopted a condemnation resolution.
The committee had said the statement is an "open confession" of the Indian government pursuing the policy of state terrorism.
The resolution said the statement has serious implications for India's neighbours, and endangers peace and stability in South Asia.
Curtsey: DAWN.COM .June 8, 2015
Modi spreads venom against Pakistan in Bangladesh
DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address at Dhaka University on Sunday blamed Pakistan for spreading terrorism and fear in neighbouring India, according to a report on Hindustan Times website.

“Pakistan aaye din India, jo naako dum la deta hai, terrorism ko badhawa deta hai… ki ghatnaayein ghatthi rehti hain,” PM Modi said in his address to Dhaka University on Sunday.
(Every now and then Pakistan keeps disturbing India, creates nuisance, promotes terrorism and such incidents keep recurring.)
“Terrorism has no boundaries. India has been troubled by it for the last 40 years. So many innocent people have died and what did those associated with terrorism gain and what have they given to the world… Terrorism has no values, no principles, no traditions and it has only one motive and that is enmity against humanity,” he said.
He invited Bangladesh to join hands with India to counter terrorism and create peace, while he spoke at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center in Dhaka before his departure on June 7.
“If we had a diabolic mindset, we do not know what decision we would have taken,” he said, reminding the students of how India had intervened in Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war.
Modi’s two day visit to Bangladesh reaffirmed the two countries “unequivocal and uncompromising position against extremism and terrorism in all forms and manifestations” declaration.
This land swap declaration also ensured that the thousands of people living near the Bangladeshi and Indian borders will be allowed to choose their nationality.
They agreed upon sharing classified information relating to any terrorist or threatening activities along the adjoining borders.
Additionally, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in collaboration with PM Modi also inaugurated a convenient bus service along the border.
Previously, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, in a shocking and radical statement, had asserted that terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists.
“India will take proactive steps to prevent a 26/11 type attack,” Press Trust of India had quoted him saying.
The adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz had expressed serious concern over the statement made by the Indian defence minister that India will use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries.
“It must be the first time that a minister of an elected government openly advocates use of terrorism in another country on the pretext of preventing terrorism from that country or its non-state actors,” the national security advise had said.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that his Indian counterpart’s statement about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism had confirmed “our assertions of Indian involvement in terrorist activities on Pakistani soil”.
He had said that Parrikar’s statement was a blatant admission of sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.
“This is the worst kind of declaration by a state functionary of cabinet level which confirms that India is sponsoring terrorism against its neighbours in the name of preventing terrorist activities,” the minister said had in a statement.
Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif said that contours of future wars are fast changing.
“While our enemies supporting terrorism to stoke sub-conventional conflicts and destabilise our country, we are fully determined, capable of defeating nefarious designs,” the army chief had said.
“Pakistan is opposed to the use of proxies against other countries and won’t allow any country to use proxies versus Pakistan,” he added.
General Raheel’s statement follows a flurry of similar assertions that India is involved in stoking terrorism in Pakistan. In recent weeks, the military and civilian leadership have expressed serious concerns of India’s “nefarious designs”, with top government officials saying India is attempting to sabotage Pakistan’s historic $46 billion agreement with China.
The Pakistan Army last month asserted that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is involved in terrorism in Pakistan.
Taking strong exception to the statement made by the Indian defence minister about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence last month adopted a condemnation resolution.
The committee had said the statement is an “open confession” of the Indian government pursuing the policy of state terrorism.
The resolution said the statement has serious implications for India’s neighbours, and endangers peace and stability in South Asia.
source by daily mailnews .com
Will Narendra Modi's $2 billion loan to Bangladesh be a setback for China?
by Rajeev Sharma  Jun 7, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come up with a clever and unexpected move of extending a new $2 billion line of credit to Bangladesh. It will make China sit up and ponder deeper over its chequebook diplomacy. It will also send a message to smaller neighbours like Maldives which is playing a teasing game with India and refusing to free former president Mohammed Nasheed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Image courtesy PIB
It is unexpected because the first line of credit of $1 billion extended by India to Bangladesh in 2010 is still not fully exhausted, though Dhaka had been clamouring for it for some time. The small remainder of the previous $1 billion line of credit should be exhausted in a few weeks. Moreover, the Bangladeshis were expecting another line of credit of an equal amount but Modi has done a Santa for them.
It is clever because both domestic politics and international strategic currents must have been at the back of his mind before Modi came up with his surprise announcement of $2 billion line of credit to Bangladesh.
Domestically, the Modi move is aimed at showing to the Congress party that he can do much more when it comes to collaborating closely with India’s most important neighbor Bangladesh with which India shares its longest boundary (4,096 kilometers). Thus he has exactly doubled the amount. Though Modi may be criticized for his munificence by the opposition and even allies like Shiv Sena, but the fact remains that he would bowl over Bangladeshis completely with his chequebook coup.
Internationally, the move is all set to make India’s immediate neighbours sit back and mull over their strategic options vis-a-vis China. From Maldives to Myanmar, from Afghanistan to Nepal the Indian neighbours would now be looking at India with much more respect – and expectations. Even countries like Vietnam, which was recently given yet another line of credit of $100 million (fourth so far), would be impressed with India’s pro-active diplomacy.
A $2 billion line of credit is the biggest India has so far extended to any country and Bangladesh is definitely an ideal choice.
PM Modi's economic aid diplomacy to its contiguous neighbours acquires all the more importance considering the fact that China has embarked upon its super ambitious Silk Route initiative going through some 50 countries and over $50 billion Chinese funding is on offer.
Apart from this, PM Modi’s ongoing Bangladesh will be historic for another reason as he and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina today witnessed the exchange of instrument of ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also present. This is the first time since the birth of Bangladesh in 1971 that the two neighbours have completely resolved their boundary dispute – both land and maritime.
Now with the boundary dispute settled completely, India and Bangladesh can concentrate on improving their bilateral relations for mutual and regional benefits. The two stand to gain not only in terms of greater people to people integration but also in boosting bilateral trade which is grossly in favour of India at present. Of the $6.5 billion annual trade between India and Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi exports amount to just half a billion dollars, the rest being Indian exports to Bangladesh.
Increasing number of accords on land transit and opening up of new bus and rail services between India and Bangladesh will ensure that their bilateral trade gallops and Bangladesh has a solid chance of giving a substantial boost to its exports to India.
Most of the 22 bilateral agreements signed today are aimed at boosting trade and transport links.
Significantly, major Indian corporate entities like Reliance Power and Adani group signed agreements with Bangladesh state-run agency to invest around $5 billion (Rs 32,000 crore) in Bangladesh’s power sector. The Indian investment will help Bangladesh to generate 4600 MW of power in near future.

Modi owes his 'Berlin Wall' moment with Bangladesh to Manmohan Singh

Dear PM Modi, it's time to thank Bangladesh for embracing its Indian immigrants

Live: Wonderful feeling to meet a close neighbour, says Modi
Another important takeaway of PM Modi's Bangladesh visit is in the field of security and counter-terrorism. The Bangladeshi side has pledged zero tolerance for terrorism and has already walked its talk for the last six and a half years since Sheikh Hasina took over the reins of the country. This is a clear message to Pakistan.
PM Modi’s Bangladesh trip has thus not just taken Indo-Bangladesh relations to a new level. The solid support pledged by Sheikh Hasina in areas of security and terrorism means that India is now more secure from terror attacks.
Pakistan needs to learn that Bangladesh is no longer available for planning, choreographing and launching vicious terror attacks on India from Bangladeshi soil and running fake Indian currency note rackets. If Pakistan does not make amends, other Saarc nations will gradually cooperate with India under the sub-regional format of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal).
Bangladesh has shown the way already
Source link Lhttp://www.firstpost.com/world/will-narendra-modis-2-billion-loan-to-bangladesh-be-a-setback-for-china-2283194.html

PM Modi owes his 'Berlin Wall' moment with Bangladesh to Manmohan Singh
by Rajeev Sharma  Jun 6,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 36-hour-long maiden visit to Bangladesh (6-7 June) is set to be a huge success, but he needs to look beyond the parochial lens of domestic politics and act as a statesman, not a politician, to celebrate the current high in India-Bangladesh bilateral ties.
The cornerstone of his Bangladesh visit is the done deal on land boundary which he himself aptly described as the fall of the Berlin Wall. Modi’s characterization of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) as an equivalent to “the fall of the Berlin Wall” is a perfect analogy but he should remember that this was made possible with solid support from the Congress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Dhaka Airport. PTI
Modi’s own party BJP had stymied the LBA till a year ago before the Modi-led BJP swept to power in India. But once in power the BJP quickly changed its stance over LBA and saw merit in the previous UPA government’s Bangladesh policy, particularly on the LBA.
Modi needs to act as a statesman and give his arch-rival Congress party its due during his talks with his Bangladeshi interlocutors. Thus far Modi has acted like a hard core politician during many of his trips to 18 countries in the first year of his five-year tenure and thrown barbs at the Congress from foreign soil.
He is in with a whale of an opportunity to make amends and acknowledge the contribution of his predecessorManmohan Singh in giving a precious gift by New Delhi to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – the LBA which has empowered Hasina in a big way and vindicated her patience and pro-India strategy. After all, Modi owes his “Berlin Wall” moment with Bangladesh to the UPA.
If today’s Bangladesh is a far cry from former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s regime when anti-India sentiment was at its peak and the influence of Pakistan was on a dangerous upturn, it is largely because of India’s best friend Sheikh Hasina in contemporary Bangladesh politics.
Today, Bangladesh is no longer the favoured laboratory of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Pakistan’s clout in Bangladesh has minimized today. We don’t see Bangladesh as a breeding ground of anti-Indiaism, a 24x7 factory of anti-India terror acts and a magnet for northeast Indian insurgents who had routinely used Bangladeshi territory to launch terror acts on Indian soil during Khaleda Zia’s tenure.
PM Modi is in Bangladesh to showcase Sheikh Hasina’s India-friendly acts and gestures in areas as diverse as counter-terrorism, people-to-people contacts, land transit and connectivity of all kinds.
Bangladesh is, in many ways, the most important neighbor of India as India shares a 4096-km-long boundary with Bangladesh. No other country shares such a long boundary with India as Bangladesh does.
During Khaleda Zia’s tenure, India was routinely threatened that India’s northeast was “Bangladesh-locked” – a geographical reality that the Zia regime had cleverly exploited at the behest of Pakistani elements.
But Sheikh Hasina has reversed that trend. Therefore, Hasina deserved the LBA gift that PM Modi has now delivered to her. This couldn’t have been possible without the Modi government getting the much-needed bipartisan support back home. Modi inherited a a solid base of strong India-Bangladesh partnership from the UPA.
Modi’s victory lap in Bangladesh has been made more celebratory by the presence of West Bengal chief ministerMamata Banerjee who had ditched Manmohan Singh and had pulled out at the last minute from the then prime minister’s entourage during his visit to Bangladesh in 2011.
But the firebrand Banerjee, who faces assembly polls by next year, has played her cards smartly by reaching Dhaka a day ahead of Modi.
PM Modi’s ongoing Bangladesh visit is solely strategic. Be it people-to-people contacts or land transit or connectivity through bus, rail and waterway routes, everything boils down to strategic considerations.
Hasina has performed an admirable strategic task for India by pulling her country out of the Pakistan orbit. But India faces a bigger strategic challenge in Bangladesh as Chinese influence has increased rapidly in this country.
This will inevitably be the biggest strategic challenge for the Modi government in Bangladesh.
PM Modi will do well to rope in the Congress for this formidable strategic task. Bangladesh is the 19th country that Modi is visiting. But this is the first time that he is visiting a Muslim-dominated country.
One will have to wait and see if he speaks and acts like a statesman (who thinks of the next generation) or like a politician (who thinks of the next election) during his brief Bangladesh visit.
Source Link: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/pm-modi-owes-berlin-wall-moment-bangladesh-manmohan-singh-2282966.html
POLITICS
MUSINGS FROM AFAR     

HARSH V PANT
 As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Bangladesh this week, there are signs of an important course correction in Delhi-Dhaka ties. For years now India's relations with Bangladesh have been suffering as New Delhi failed to capitalise on the propitious political circumstances in Bangladesh in recent years with the coming to power of Sheikh Hasina of the Bangladesh Awami League, who has taken great political risks to restore momentum in bilateral ties since 2008.
Bureaucratic inertia and lack of political will on India's part have prevented serious progress on outstanding bilateral issues. Bangladesh has been seeking an expeditious Indian response to its demand for the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers on Bangladeshi products. There has also been little movement on the Land Boundary agreement and on a water-sharing agreement for the Teesta river, which is crucial to agricultural production in north-western Bangladesh. India failed to meaningfully reciprocate Hasina's overtures. Meanwhile, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been using the India-Bangladesh cordiality under Hasina to criticize the Government for perceived subservience to India. India-Bangladesh ties had reached their lowest ebb during the 2001-06 tenure of the BNP government.
Have your say. You can comment here.It was in 2010 that the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee signed a $1 billion loan deal with the Hasina government, the largest line of credit received by Bangladesh under a single agreement. India's Exim Bank had signed this line of credit agreement with Bangladesh's economic relations division and the loan was be used to develop railways and communications infrastructure in Bangladesh. This deal carried 1.75 per cent annual interest and would be repayable in 20 years, including a five-year grace period. It was offered during Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January 2010. This was followed by the two countries signing a 35-year electricity transmission deal under which India will be exporting up to 500 MW of power to Bangladesh. Dhaka also signed a $1.7 billion pact with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the construction of two coal-fired plants in southern Bangladesh. Despite these initiatives India failed to build on the momentum provided by Hasina's visit with its failure to implement two major bilateral agreements - finalisation of land boundary demarcation and the sharing of the waters of the Teesta river.
Now Modi will be visiting Bangladesh after successfully shepherding the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) in Parliament, settling a 41-year-old border dispute with Bangladesh. The implementation of the LBA will allow the two neighbours to exchange lands in each other's territory and will also resolve the long-standing problem of land in adverse possession. West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee who had refused to accompany former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Bangladesh in September 2011 will be joining Modi during his visit, raiding expectations that Delhi and Dhaka might even be able to move forward on an accord on Teesta water sharing that has been held up by West Bengal's concerns.
Bangladesh has rightly upset at the slow pace in the implementation of these pacts. Hasina has taken great political risk to put momentum back into bilateral ties. But there has been no serious attempt on India's part to settle outstanding issues. New Delhi's window of opportunity will not exist forever. Anti-India sentiments can be marginalised if India allows Bangladesh to harness its economic growth and presents it with greater opportunities. Yet India remains obsessed with "Af-Pak" and has failed to give due attention to Bangladesh.
India is the central issue around which Bangladeshi political parties define their foreign policy agenda. This shouldn't be a surprise given India's size and geographic linkages. Over the years political parties opposing the Awami League have tended to define themselves in opposition to India, in effect portraying Awami League as India's "stooge". Moreover, radical Islamic groups have tried to buttress their own "Islamic identities" by attacking India.
Ever since she has come to power in December 2008, Sheikh Hasina has faced challenges from right-wing parties as well as the fundamentalist organisations such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen which enjoy Pakistan's support. These groups are united in undermining efforts to improve ties with New Delhi. The greatest challenge that Hasina overcame in her first year was the mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, which erupted in February 2009. It soon became clear that the mutineers were being instigated by supporters of the opposition led by the BNP and others connected to the Jamaat-e-Islami. India supported Hasina's crackdown on the mutineers by sealing its borders with Bangladesh and forcing back mutineers attempting to cross over.
And then there is the small matter of China's growing profile around India's periphery. Even Sheikh Hasina has described China as the "most dependable and consistent friend of Bangladesh" ever since the two states established their diplomatic ties more than three decades ago. A close relationship with China is one of the most potent ways by which Bangladesh can demonstrate its autonomy from Indian domination, especially when India has found it difficult to make significant progress on thorny bilateral issues. Hasina visited China in June 2014 for her second major overseas trip (after Japan) since retaining power in January 2014 elections. She signed five deals with China including one for building a 1,320-megawatt power plant in Patuakhali with Chinese assistance and one for sharing the technology of super hybrid rice with Bangladesh, something that China usually does not do. China's is Dhaka's largest trading partner as well as the largest supplier of military equipment.
India is witnessing rising turmoil all around its borders and, therefore, a stable, moderate Bangladesh is in its long-term interests. Constructive Indo-Bangladesh ties can be a major stabilising factor for the south Asian region as a whole. This makes it imperative for both sides to reduce the mutual "trust deficit" that has crept into their bilateral ties. India, being the bigger and economically more powerful of the two, can and should take the lead in this process by taking generous and constructive steps to improve relations with Bangladesh.
Modi's visit should reinforce this message.
02-06-2015
India takes step to resolve border dispute with BD
REUTERS —  DEC 02, 2014