Bangladesh–India relations

Both Bangladesh and India are part of the Indian subcontinent and have had a long common cultural, economic and political history. To most outsiders, the people of the two countries are indistinguishable. The cultures of the two countries are similar; in particular India's West Bengal state and Bangladesh are both Bengali-speaking.

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 85%. 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, Jinnah declared that only Urdu would the 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 Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, 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 Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rehman. This led to widespread protests in East Pakistan and in 1971, the Liberation War in the self-declared (By the Great Leader Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rahman on 26th.March 1971) state of Bangladesh started.

India under Indira Gandhi fully supported the cause of the Bangladeshis and its troops and equipment were used to fight the Pakistani forces. It also gave full support to the main Bangladeshi guerilla 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

# India played a central role in the independence of Bangladesh. 19,000 Indian soldiers died 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.
# Bangladesh was faced with an economic crisis after independence. Its population was the 8th largest in the world at the time. India gave large amounts of aid to Bangladesh. In recent years India provides co-operation and assistance during annual natural calamities. India is a supplier of staple foods such as rice and live animals which helps keep their prices affordable for the masses of Bangladesh.
# Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rehman’s first foreign visit as PM and the Founding Father of this 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.
# In 1972, both the countries signed a ‘Treaty of Friendship and Peace’. An Indo-Bangladesh Trade Pact was also signed.
# The main opposition Awami League is generally considered to be friendly towards India.
# Moderate Bangladeshis and those who are strong Bengali nationalists, including some artists, activits and students have a friendly disposition towards India. Bangladeshi Hindus and Buddhists have an attachment towards India which gave birth of their religions.

Areas of contention

# 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, and on the other hand, it gets flooded during the monsoons when India releases excess waters.
# 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.
# A broad spectrum of India's public opinion is concerned about the perceived demographic challenge from Bangladesh. The right-wing Hindu parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party have made a major election issue out of the reported migraton of Muslim Bangladeshis to India. While no reliable figures exist, the Bangladeshi Muslim population in India is generally estimated at between 15 million and 20 million and growing. Border states of India such as West Bengal and Assam are now over 25% Muslim, significantly higher than 1950 levels. With Bangladesh's population continuing to grow rapidly and doomsday global warming scenarios predicting half of Bangladesh will be under water by 2100, there are fears in India that tens of millions of Bangladeshis will migrate into India, dramatically altering the balance of religious populations.
# Indian border force's killing of people while crossing the border has been the topic of disputes. In August 2008, Indian Border Security Force officials said that they killed 59 smugglers and illegal immigrants (34 Bangladeshis and 21 Indians) who were trying to cross the border between India and Bangladesh during a 6 month period. [http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-35156020080824 India says 59 killed over last six months on Bangladesh border] , Reuters, August 24, 2008.]
# Terrorism activities carried out in India by infiltrated terror outfits from Bangladesh like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami. [ [http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1200&Itemid=35 Bangladeshi Immigrants Stoke Terror in India] ] [ [http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/bangladesh/terroristoutfits/Huj.htm Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B)Terrorist Group, Bangladesh] ] Recently India and Bangladesh had agreed to jointly fight terrorism. [ [http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/01/stories/2008090155971200.htm Delhi, Dhaka to strengthen border management] ]
# Sheltering of Northeastern terror outfits like ULFA in Bangladesh.

References

See also

* Foreign relations of Bangladesh
* Foreign relations of India
* Indo-Bangladeshi barrier

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