India on 11 jan 2010 committed $1 billion line of credit for developmental projects in Bangladesh and transformed its bilateral ties by signing five accords, including three key security pacts to expand counter-terror cooperation.
The $1 billion line of credit is the largest ever one-time bilateral financial assistance India has provided to any country. This will be used for construction of railway bridges and lines, supply of coaches and locomotives and buses, and assistance in dredging, an issue of pressing concern to Dhaka.
The two sides took major steps to improve connectivity, including the start of the Akhara-Agartala rail link.
The three security-related pacts signal a major step forward in expanding counter-terror cooperation and in addressing India's concerns over this issue that had earlier strained their ties.
The pacts will help New Delhi press Dhaka for the extradition of suspected insurgents from its northeastern states who have taken shelter in Bangladeshi territory over the years.
The two nations inked pacts related to counter terrorism, organised crime and illicit drug trafficking.
Sheikh Hasina will be conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.
Bangladesh requested India to provide duty-free access for its goods.
Bangladesh has a large trade deficit with India. In the April to September period of 2009, Indian exports to the neighbouring country stood at about $1 billion, while imports was a little over $100 million.
"Bharti Airtel (Bharti) has entered into an agreement with the Dhabi Group to acquire a 70% stake in Warid Telecom (Bangladesh).
Impact: Bangladesh, with a population of ~160m, has six mobile operators serving a total of 50.6m mobile subscribers (32% penetration as of November 2009). Grameen Phone (Q3CY09 revenues of $238m; EBITDA margin of 57% and ARPU of $3.7), is the leader in the market with 22.8m subscribers and a 45% market share. Warid Telecom, with 2.9m subscribers, is the fourth largest operator (5.7% market share) and estimated to have ARPU of ~$2.5 and revenues of $80m in CY09.
Historical background
During the Partition of India after independence in 1947, the Bengal region was divided into two: East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) and West Bengal. East Bengal was made a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan due to the fact that both regions had an overwhelmingly large Muslim population, more than 86%. In 1955, the government of Pakistan changed its name from East Bengal to East Pakistan.
There were some confrontations between the two regions though. Firstly, in 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared that only Urdu would the sole official language of the entire nation, though more than 95% of the East Bengali population spoke Bengali. And when protests broke out in Bangladesh on February 21, 1952, Pakistani police fired on the protesters, killing hundreds. Secondly, East Bengal/East Pakistan was allotted only a small amount of revenue for its development out of the Pakistani national budget. Therefore, a separatist movement started to grow in the isolated province. When the main separatist party the Awami League, headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won 167 of 169 seats up for grabs in the 1970 elections and got the right to form the government, the Pakistan president under Yahya Khan refused to recognize the election results and arrested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This led to widespread protests in East Pakistan and in 1971, the Liberation War, followed by the declaration (by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 7 March 1971) of the independent state of Bangladesh.
India under Indira Gandhi fully supported the cause of the Bangladeshis and its troops and equipment were used to fight the Pakistani forces. The Indian Army also gave full support to the main Bangladeshi guerrilla force, the Mukti Bahini. Finally, on 26 March 1971, Bangladesh emerged as an independent state. Since then, there have been several issues of agreement as well as of dispute.
Areas of agreement
1.India played a central role in the independence of Bangladesh. About 250,000 Indian soldiers fought for, and 20,000 losing their lives for the cause of an independent Bangladesh. India sheltered over 10 million refugees who were fleeing the atrocities of the occupying West Pakistan Army. India and its ally Bhutan were the first countries to recognize Bangladesh as an independent nation. Bangladeshis have some awareness of their obligation and gratitude towards India.
2.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s first foreign visit as Prime Minister and the Founding Father of the newly born nation was to India and it was then decided Indo-Bangladesh relations would be guided by principles of democracy, socialism, nonalignment and opposition to colonialism and racism. Indira Gandhi too visited Bangladesh in 1972 and assured that India would never interfere in the internal affairs of the country.
3.In 1972, both the countries signed a ‘Treaty of Friendship and Peace’. An Indo-Bangladesh Trade Pact was also signed.
4.The mainstream party Awami League is generally considered to be friendly towards India.
Areas of contention
1.A major area of contention has been the construction and operation of the Farakka Barrage by India to increase water supply in the river Hoogly. Bangladesh insists that it does not receive a fair share of the Ganga waters during the drier seasons, and gets flooded during the monsoons when India releases excess waters.
2.There have also been disputes regarding the transfer of Teen Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh. Part of Bangladesh is surrounded by the Indian state of West Bengal. On 26 June 1992, India leased three bigha land to Bangladesh to connect this enclave with mainland Bangladesh. There is dispute regarding the indefinite nature of the lease.
3.Terrorist activities carried out by outfits based in both countries, like Banga Sena and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. Recently India and Bangladesh had agreed to jointly fight terrorism.
4.The Sharing of Ganges Waters was also a matter of dispute.
1 comment:
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