One notes with both a degree of concern and amusement the news that the Manmohan Singh government is still waiting for Mamata Banerjee to come on board.***

There is perhaps no single example where the key to the furtherance of bilateral relations between two countries depended so much on the goodwill, some would say good sense, of one person. That, unfortunately, is the case insofar as Bangladesh-India relations are concerned. The Mamata factor in our relationship has become a matter of cogitation in Bangladesh by experts and observers of Bangladesh-India relations.

The state of affairs is a great disappointment for those that would like to see harmonious Bangladesh-India relations and deepening of cooperation based on equity. It only gives the opportunity to the detractors to gleefully restate the foolishness of trusting India.

The fact is that the bilateral relationship has hit a snag, in spite of the surfeit of goodwill that had been created after the AL's coming to power, and in spite of public utterances on both sides of the fence, literally, that everything is absolutely OK on all counts; and that has been further compounded by the behaviour of the utterly errant BSF personnel on the Bangladesh-India border.

It seems that we are being held hostage by the Chief Minister of Paschimbanga. The distress is being felt by most people in Bangladesh, and one would hope it is distressing in equal measure to those in the government of Dr. Manmohan Singh who would like to see India's commitments made to Bangladesh is honoured fully. In reality, the next steps regarding the major issues, which would lead to implementation of the MOU of September 2011, depend entirely on Ms. Banerjee giving ground on those.

The general people in Bangladesh have realised that we are in for a long haul as far as Teesta is concerned. We wonder whether our policymakers do. The sooner our policymakers realise that, the sooner and better we would be able to formulate our future strategy in this regard.

We can thank Mamata Banerjee for putting the spanner in the works as far as the Teesta deal is concerned; some, however, are unwilling to put the blame entirely on the Paschimbanga CM. But let us focus on the other important issues that were supposed to have been acted upon following the September 2011 Summit in Dhaka, particularly on the Protocol to the Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of the Land Boundary but acted upon by when? And that is the main criticism of the protocol.

The 2011 said protocol operationalises the Mujib-Indira LBA of 1974. It was a landmark achievement in many respects since it addressed the 6.4 kilometers of un-demarcated border in three different stretches. It has also addressed the issue of the enclaves and land in adverse possession (APL). The only shortcoming of the protocol was that no timeframe was fixed for the exchanges to be completed. One had hoped that one of the main causes of border tensions and sporadic clashes on the borders, the APL, would be removed permanently by implementing the protocol. Bangladesh's interest lay in how quickly the exchanges could take place. It seems that we are in for another round of disappointments.

While it took nearly four decades to formalise the mechanisms to implement the 1974 Treaty, nothing has moved since September 2011 when the relevant protocols were signed. There are mixed news about the progress on the Indian side in this regard. The matter has not been put up to the Indian cabinet, reportedly because of the position taken by Mamata Banerjee with regard to handing over of land to Bangladesh. There is therefore a "go slow" policy on the part of India compelled as well by the BJP opposition to the protocol.

One notes with both a degree of concent and amusement the news that the Manmohan Singh government is still waiting for Mamata Banerjee to come on board, quite a ludicrous situation, one must add, given that the loose ends should have been ironed out before the Indian PM put his signature on the documents. And of course there is always the "legal aspect" to fall back upon, as India had done with regard to the Teen Bigha.

Bangladesh would hope that it would not have to wait another forty years before the 2011 protocols are implemented. As for the Paschimbanga CM, whom many in Bangladesh consider as the villain of the piece, she would do well to heed the advice of an eminent Indian journalist who suggested that the, "West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be well advised to visit Bangladesh where she is popular and where the expectation is that she would make amends for her absence from the prime minister's team that visited Dhaka a few weeks ago. Were Mamata to announce more water from the River Teesta, something she had promised, the entire Bangladesh population would dance to her tune."

One is not certain about Ms. Banerjee's popularity rating in Bangladesh at this point in time, neither is one certain that the entire population would dance to her tune at her announcement for more water for Bangladesh, but they would certainly thank providence for implanting good sense in her.

We want no one's magnanimity but only what is rightfully ours.

The writer Is Editor, Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Dally Star.