Narendra Modi gets land swap and coastal shipping deal with Bangladesh
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Over the week-end, India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. Especially important for bilateral relations are the deals the prime minister of India and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, inked in the areas of coastal shipping, energy (including civilian nuclear power), security (terrorism), and road communications.
The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), voted by the Indian Parliament on 7 May after it was amended, was the highlight of the talks. Under the deal, the two nations will swap enclaves within their respective borders. Enclave residents will be able to choose where they want to live and which nationality they would prefer.
However, for analysts the agreement is not only very important for both countries because it offers opportunities to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation, but also because it allows them to improve relations with Bhutan and Nepal.
Since India and Bangladesh are on the Bay of Bengal, the largest bay in the world, located in the north-eastern Indian Ocean, New Delhi is in a position to exert its economic influence over the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) sub-regional cooperation group as well as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
However, there has been little movement on water sharing, especially in the case of the Teesta River, a crucial issue in the last few years. In view of the situation, Hasina urged Modi to agree to a quick deal to follow up the interim agreement signed in September 2011. In his response, the Indian prime minister said that issue should be resolved "with a human approach" because water cannot be used "for political reasons".
Perceived as "anti-Muslim," Modi is unpopular in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, local media reported that the Indian leader was given a "warm welcome". Modi praised Bangladesh’s socio-economic progress and stressed that both he and Hasina shared the same goal, namely "development, development, development".
The one sour note came from Bangladesh’s Hindu community. In an interview with the Press Trust of India, Rana Dasgupta, secretary general of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, said that Hindus “live in constant fear of persecution by religious fundamentalists, and want the Prime Minister of India to send a strong message to the country’s rulers.”
"Prime Minister Modi has welcomed Hindus fleeing religious terror in other countries,” Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), told AsiaNews. “Whilst we welcome this, we believe the prime minister should apply that same principle of justice to the persecuted Christians of India, as well as to those of neighbouring countries."
During last year’s election campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto said that India was the “natural home for persecuted Hindus.” At a campaign rally for the elections in Assam last February, the prime minister clearly distinguished Hindu from Muslim refugees from Bangladesh and said he was ready to welcome the former but not the latter.
(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)
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20/03/2023 16:57
20/10/2021 14:50
