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Foreign secretaries meeting in New Delhi
Bangladeshi and Indian foreign secretaries, M. Tauhid Hossain and Shiv Shankar Menon, met in New Delhi on Julyl7-18. Judging from media reports, it seems both of them attempted to break the deadlock in a number of issues that remain pending between the two neighbouring countries. In that sense, it can be viewed as a success.
Observers note that since April last year, the relationship between India and Bangladesh has been productive. Among the achievements were the start of the Maitri Express between Kolkata and Dhaka in April 2007 and the visit of the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh, Lt. Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed. Furthermore, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Bangladesh twice in the last year.
Menon disclosed that army chief General Deepak Kapoor would be visiting Bangladesh soon, as also Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.
Dynamics of bilateral relations
Bangladesh-India relations are complex, sensitive and multidimensional. Since the two countries are hugging neighbours and share about 4,025 kilometres of land and riverine border, bilateral relations touch many issues of common interest. Furthermore, India is 23 times larger than Bangladesh. This asymmetry has an impact on bilateral relations.
Contemporary practice acknowledges that although governments do not bear the whole burden of bilateral relations, they lay down policies and remain responsible for responses to issues between countries.
Bilateral relations are the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage relations between Bangladesh and India. There is no single model or form of bilateral relations, because each nation sets its own priorities with other countries. In essence, bilateral relations are based on each other's strengths and weaknesses.
New Delhi meeting these meetings often are significant, not because they may resolve all issues but because they provide awareness of each other's points of view on bilateral issues In such meetings, when essential points of a dispute are dispassionately analysed, parties may be able to see areas of possible agreement. The areas of disagreement are to be resolved in future through peaceful negotiations.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Hossain described his talks with Menon as very useful and constructive. He reportedly said: "We did not shy away from discussing all issues which we considered important for the present and the future of the robust, friendly relations between Bangladesh and India. Our discussions have been candid, comprehensive and forward-looking. I have every reason to believe that ours has been a useful round of discussions, which would enable us to continue to work constructively in the days and years ahead to enrich our already close bilateral relationship."
India's foreign secretary said: "We had a very good discussion today where we discussed our trade and economic relations, our political relations, common security issues, water issues and the other aspects where we would like to carry our relationship forward."
Menon further said: "We both exchanged views on how to deal with some of the humanitarian aspects, water resources issues for instance; and we are trying to enhance cooperation in agriculture and in science and technology. I am confident that this round of Foreign Office consultations helped build trust and understanding between our two countries, and we look forward to continuing this process."
Foreign secretaries of India and Bangladesh today described terrorism as a global problem, and added that the governments of both countries have been discussing counter-strategies at both the bilateral and multilateral levels to neutralise this menace.
On addressing terrorism, Menon and his Bangladeshi counterpart Touhid Hossain said: "We
arc convinced that our security is interlinked, and that terrorism will have to be tackled resolutely " The two officials also confirmed that they had discussed a number of other issues of mutual interest in great detail and in a candid manner.
Both replied in the affirmative that the issue of water sharing was taken up among others, and Foreign Secretary Hossain said that both sides were in agreement for the setting up of a technical committee "to resolve the issue of embankment protection of the rivers which has been harming the people on both sides of our border. *
India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km land and riverine border. India and Bangladesh have repeatedly accused each other of constructing concrete embankments on the Mahananda River, which causes massive soil erosion and, therefore, loss of territory.
Both sides claim that their respective embankments are temporary protective structures, while accusing the other of putting up concrete structures.
In fact, the confrontation over the embankment issue took an ugly turn on several occasions in the past and has also sparked off skirmishes between the Bangladesh Rifles and the Border Security Force, leading to the deaths of innocent civilians.
The idea of converting temporary embankments on both sides into permanent structures was mooted at previous meetings of the Joint River Commission, and was also proposed by the two
countries' water resources ministers last year.
Both countries share 54 common rivers, including the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra. Foreign Secretary Menon described the talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart as having "covered all aspects of our relations ’
When both were asked about the status of the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA), Hossain and Menon said discussions on it were at 'an advanced stage of finalisation" and "we believe that in the near future we will be able to do something on that. X
The promises of India's foreign secretary are indeed foundations of a new era of hope for Bangladesh. We trust these prom ises will be translated into action as speedily as possible.
If India nurtures its relation with Bangladesh with a heavy dose of common-sense, 1 am confident that Bangladesh and India will have lasting friendship and goodwill towards each other. In that environment, no issue will stand in the way between the two neighbours.
India needs Bangladesh as much as Bangladesh needs India in the current regional and global environment Let the IndoBangladesh relations move on a mature partnership on economic, social and political levels.
Baris'.er Harun ur t» a bmer Bangiaflev or Ic tne UN Geneva