[ALOCHONA] Delhi trying to force strategic concessions from Dhaka

POLITICAL PARTIES CONDEMN THE MOVE Delhi trying to force strategic concessions from Dhaka   The Indian government has presented a draft agreement to the Bangladesh government recently on land transit for free movement of cargo and passenger transports through Bangladesh to its north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.    The move came at an inappropriate time and quite unexpectedly to the public when the Caretaker Government (CG) has no mandate to take policy decisions. Analysts wonder whether the Indian government is trying to exploit the vulnerability of the CG in a volatile political situation.    One does not know why the Indian government has taken the sensitive issues only three weeks prior to the forthcoming SAARC summit in Sri Lanka early next month.    Different political parties and professional groups have already condemned the move. The four-party alliance headed by BNP has already called for protest on July 16 saying the Indian move is aimed at forcing strategic concessions from the weak Caretaker Government to make it a vassal state. "We will resist it to the end," BNP secretary general Delwar Hossain said last week announcing the protest.    The transit issue is not a new phenomenon and has many strategic and socio-economic factors involved in it. The finalisation of an agreement, even taking up the issue seriously for discussion leading to producing a draft is quite sensitive in one hand and requires long home work on the other.    Nonetheless, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has presented the draft to the Caretaker Government. The High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has further demanded that the forthcoming foreign secretary meetings of both the countries to be held in Delhi on July 17 and 18 must finalise the agreement.    Another report said India has also demanded the return of Anup Chetiya before the foreign secretary level meeting. Replying to a question last week, Pinak Chakravarty said Delhi will be thankful if Dhaka complies with the request. He, however, refused to comment on transit issue.    The Indian High Commissioner met the foreign secretary Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury last Wednesday and spelled out Delhi's views to him on both issues. It seems that the Indian government is working unilaterally bringing pressure on Bangladesh government on the issues.    Last week, senior foreign ministry officials failed to respond to the queries of the press. Reports said the foreign ministry has referred the draft to the Communications Ministry for follow-up. Secretary of the Ministry of Communication reportedly said they are not in a position to act on the draft, as there is no policy decision on it from the country's present political leadership.    Foreign Ministry sources are also of the view that without the policy decision of the Council of Advisers on the subject there is no scope to go ahead with the discussion and deal with the matter. To their knowledge, he said, the council has not discussed the issue.    They said, these are sensitive issues and as far as they believe only an elected government will be able, and have the mandate, to take decision on the issues. It is not new, they said, such proposals also came in the past but no decision was made.    Observers wonder why the Indian government has chosen the present time knowing well that this government has no mandate to take such decision. Even if it works on the line, court cases may stop it before it makes any progress.    The latest Indian draft says its cargo vehicles carrying containers and goods and passenger carriers would cross Bangladesh territory to reach the north-eastern states through several points. They want to enter the Indian territory and return through Tamabil, Bibir Bazar and Khagrachari crossing over to Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram states.    The Indian government has proposed the right of the routes and multiple-entry facility to and from 'seven sisters', her north-eastern states.    For Indian cargo vehicles it has proposed seven-day stay permit inside Bangladesh and for passengers' transport, five days' stay.    The proposed agreement will be initially for five years, to be reviewed every year. On expiry of five years, it may be renewed.    Earlier, the Indian government also presented proposals for railway transit to the Caretaker Government. The proposals identified five points to carry goods to the north-eastern states. It suggested that goods train will enter Banladesh and return through Gadey-Darshana, Shindabad-Meherpur, Petrapole-Benapole and Radhikapur-Shahjadpur points.    The proposal further demanded construction of Akhaura-Agartala section of the railway and using Ahugonj as port of call for Indian vassals arriving with goods from Kolkata and booked for Agartala. Accordingly, the Indian government is also laying railway track from Agartala to Bangladesh border at Akhaura.    Observers wonder why India is pressurising to take concessions from the Caretaker Government. However, similar moves were noticeable in recent past from High Commissioners and Ambassadors of some other countries who wanted to benefit multinationals of their own countries by winning contracts.    One High Commissioner presented a list of five big projects including some projects already involved in political controversy.. The Caretaker Government so far resisted such pressure. "Will India win its prize this way?" wonders an expert saying the whole issue should be sorted out under a common regional agenda.    According to experts, this region must form an 'economic union' and things are working towards that direction. Here India must have patience and make more concessions before demanding such strategic gains.    The confidence-gap is the number one problem here, experts view.    Moreover, Bangladesh's surface roads and highways are not wide enough and well-built to take the load of the heavy Indian vehicles. The railway track on the Jamuna Bridge has already showed cracks; besides many other railway bridges are in deplorable condition indicating these are not fit to bear the heavy loads either.    One expert argues that India should make heavy investments in the country's communications system in the first place before demanding facilities. Moreover, he said, the spread of AIDS\HIV from the Indian truckers can be a real threat to Bangladesh.    These are the critical aspects that any government in Bangladesh will face in handling the issue.    If India believes Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary will be able to finalise the agreement and the Caretaker Government will be able to deliver the goods, it will be an oversimplification of the explosive issue, said a source.   http://www.weeklyholiday.net/front.html#04   Transit remains India's interest: Pinak Transit and security are the two issues India will try to patch together, along with other long-standing matters with Bangladesh, when diplomats and officials of two next-door neighbours will sit in New Delhi for two-day talks next week.    'We are interested in transit and we will remain so,' Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said Thursday after meeting foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at the latter's office.    He criticised the 'huge politicisation' of an economic issue like transit over the years.    'This is not a political issue at all. It is an economic issue. I don't see any reason why it should be politicised to this extent,' he argued.    Foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India, leading their respective delegations comprising senior bureaucrats, will meet on July 17 and 18 to discuss issues relating to trade, regional connectivity and security..    They are also expected to talk some economic issues, water management through construction of embankments and dredging in common rivers and demarcation of maritime boundary.    The Indian envoy said his country would seek greater cooperation from Bangladesh in security matters as New Delhi found some links between cross-border terrorist groups threatening the internal security.    Referring to recent blasts, he said, 'We will be seeking greater cooperation on these issues so that both the countries can fight the menace of terrorism together.'    Responding to a query whether the terrorists groups could be identified, he said, 'Of course we have a fairly good idea. Even we've telephone numbers of some of them.'    Exchange of prisoners is also likely to come up for discussion as India's most wanted ULFA leader Anup Chetia has been in Bangladesh jail for years while Bangladesh authorities often claim many wanted people are either in jail or have found safe havens in India.    'India has unilaterally repatriated some wanted Bangladeshis hiding in Kolkata. We feel that we also need to get back some of our people staying here.'    'There are many more like the one you named [Anup Chetia]. We expect Bangladesh will catch them and hand over to India,' he told a reporter.    Pinak said India wanted opening of more border stations, if possible, to expedite the two-way trade, which was on the rise.     'Besides, we like to see more frequency of bus and train services by sorting out some existing problems,' he added.    About the progress of an Indian pledge to reconstruct some houses in the cyclone Sidr affected areas, the high commissioner said it was at the final stage and a company was selected for the job.    The construction work will start as soon as the fund is sanctioned by the Indian government, he added.    On export of rice to Bangladesh under the previously signed deal between the two countries, Pinak admitted that domestic procurement problems and rules and regulations in some Indian states were slowing down the supply of rice.   http://www.newagebd.com/2008/jul/11/front.html   Editorial India must reciprocate in equal  measure for transit   India has once again sought transit facilities through Bangladesh as an agreement 'for the regulation of passenger and cargo vehicular traffic between the two countries', according to a report published in New Age on Thursday. Our largest neighbour has reportedly expressed her desire to conclude a deal at the next bilateral diplomatic meeting scheduled between July 17 and July 18. According to the report, officials from the ministries of commerce, communications and foreign affairs will be included in the delegation for the foreign secretary level talks.    We find it very unfortunate that initiatives to bring the South Asian countries closer together have remained stalled for years, largely due to mutual mistrust between the governments and the peoples of this region. Greater regional cooperation is necessary not only because of the mutual benefits that it will bring for the peoples of the different countries, but also because through greater cohesion, the region will be in a much better position to achieve its tremendous potential. In this regard, we have stated on several occasions that more people-to-people contact and increased cooperation between the governments of India and Bangladesh are necessary to alleviate the mutual suspicion and mistrust that exists.    Hence, we are not opposed, in principle, to providing transit facility to India and would welcome it as long as India reciprocates in equal measure. The Indian government's attempts to secure passage through Bangladesh to its north-eastern states have always been linked with tariff reduction on its part for our products as an exchange. India will presumably point out at the scheduled meeting in New Delhi that she has recently agreed to reduce tariffs for certain textile products made in Bangladesh as a gesture of its generosity. We believe that while we are due such concessions from India in any case, under different trade agreements, the issue of transit must not be linked with that of tariff or other trade barriers that India imposes for Bangladeshi products. Rather, we believe that India should reciprocate for its bid to seek passage through Bangladesh by providing Bangladesh passage through India into Bhutan and Nepal. Just as passage through Bangladesh into its north-eastern states would give India a significant economic boost, passage through India into Bhutan and Nepal can give our country a similar economic advantage.    It should also be noted that international regulations, especially those under the World Trade Organisation, favour such demands for transit to a third country, as the one we are making, if it is economically efficient. Furthermore, such a facility — transit from Bangladesh to Bhutan and Nepal — would only contribute to increased interaction and exchange between the peoples of our countries, leading to greater regional cooperation. Therefore, while we recognise that there may be benefits for Bangladesh if it agrees to provide transit facilities to India, our negotiators must also realise that this is essentially a concession that must be reciprocated by our larger neighbour with similar facilities, if not better, given Bangladesh's relative size and level of development.   http://www.newagebd.com/2008/jul/11/edit.html

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