The Hindu Business Line : NEIGHBOURLY REALITIES

With Dhaka still suspicious of New Delhi's intentions, cooperation in various sectors has been disrupted, harming Bangladesh's interests more than India's.

Whenever the leaders of Bangladesh and India meet, they routinely come out with exhortations of enhanced bilateral cooperation and express satisfaction over the progress achieved. The recent visit to New Delhi of the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Ms Khaleda Zia, was no exception. At the beginning of her trip she said she was looking forward "to very candid and constructive discussions with our friends in India". And the joint statement issued at the end of it spoke of "greater understanding and appreciation of each other's point of view," and that "whether it is security, trade or sharing of water, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to find mutually satisfactory solutions."

Despite such commitments over the years, relations between the two countries have remained uneasy at best mainly because of India's big-brother status in terms of of its geographical size and economic strength. It is to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's credit that he has always stressed that, by virtue of its status, New Delhi has to concede more of its own interests than rely on a policy of equal reciprocity in negotiating bilateral agreements with its smaller neighbours. But Dhaka continues to be suspicious of New Delhi's intentions, with the result that cooperation in various sectors with good potential for development has been disrupted, harming Bangladesh's interests more than India's.

In trade, for instance, despite several commitments and promises, there has been little improvement which has hurt Dhaka more than New Delhi. Bangladesh suffers from a chronic trade deficit (which has ballooned to more than $1.5 billion from less than $100 million in the mid-1980s). In fact, at a joint business meeting in New Delhi, the point was specifically raised by Ms Khaleda Zia, who suggested that New Delhi allow duty-free import of goods and removal of non-tariff barriers to reduce the deficit, both being old demands.

Given the market realities, Bangladesh cannot avoid a deficit in its trade with India, however hard Dhaka tries to bargain with New Delhi. Seen from this perspective, it is surprising that the Bangladesh Finance Minister should harp on a quid pro quo involving the Kolkata-Dhaka rail link and a transit corridor from Bangladesh to Nepal and Bhutan through Indian territory when it is clear that, left to itself, New Delhi would never deny its neighbour such a facility. The problems associated with the Tata group's $2.5-billion proposed investment, which should contribute to a sizable reduction in Bangladesh's trade deficit, also suggest that Dhaka would rather hurt itself than concede any ground to New Delhi.

Related Stories:
Bangladesh seeks scrapping of NTBs

More Stories on : Editorial | Foreign Relations | Foreign Trade

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
NEIGHBOURLY REALITIES

Battle plan for best effect

The Sonia method

Content vs process

Barring the benefit of double deduction

Manpower recruitment in B-schools

Tax meter that kept ticking for a vehicle in time warp

Where the mind is `not halved by a horizon'