Dr. Smruti S. Pattanaik, Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), spoke on “Sheikh Hasina’s Visit to India and India-Bangladesh Relations” at the Monday Morning Meeting held on 12 September 2022. The session was moderated by Dr. Pushpita Das, Research Fellow. Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General, MP-IDSA, Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Bipin Bakshi (Retd.), Deputy Director General, MP-IDSA, and scholars of the Institute were in attendance.

Executive Summary

Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh embarked on a four day visit to India, starting September 5. Seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoU’s) were signed and exchanged during the trip. They announced several new connectivity projects, cooperation and capacity-building initiatives. An exhaustive joint statement of 32 points was issued by the end of the visit. Points that were deliberated during the visit were elucidated upon. India-Bangladesh bilateral ties were discussed in light of trade and connectivity, and cooperation on defence.

Detailed Report

Dr. Das introduced the topic of the Monday Morning Meeting, by briefly discussing Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India. She spoke of cooperation on defence border management, trade and connectivity, water resources, power and energy, people to people contact, etc. During this visit, the countries also signed 7 MoU’s, focused on river water sharing, capacity building, and cooperation in space, science and technologies. Both the countries also announced several new connectivity initiatives and produced a 32-point joint statement. She then invited Dr. Pattanaik to make her presentation.

Dr. Pattanaik briefly discussed the issues that were agreed upon during the visit, including the 7 MoU’s signed and exchanged, including withdrawal of water from Kushiyara River, capacity building of railway staff, collaboration in IT application for Bangladesh Railways, cooperation on space technology, and between CSIR (Council for Scientific & Industrial Research) and BCSIR (Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research), between Prasar Bharti and Bangladesh Television and on capacity building of Bangladeshi judicial officers in India. She then elucidated on the withdrawal of 153 cusec (cubic feet/ second) water from the Kushiyara River agreed by the two countries. The water was to be used for irrigation of about 5000 hectares of land. India requested Bangladesh to conclude water sharing on the Feni River. Bangladesh in 2019 had agreed to supply 1.83 cusecs of water to Tripura, in recognition of Tripura’s contribution to the Bangladeshi Liberation War.

The Speaker said that Maitree Bridge over Feni, which was inaugurated in 2019, connecting Tripura with Bangladesh, is going to further enhance connectivity between the two countries.  Within the aspect of subregional projects, India asked for a highway from Hili in West Bengal to Mahendraganj in Meghalaya through Bangladesh. This is a subregional project because the two countries are part of the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) network. While Bhutan is yet to ratify the BBIN, there are expectations it will do so in the future. In the meanwhile, it has asked other member states to go ahead with the provisions while it completes the internal process of ratification.

It was announced that riverine services under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) routes 5 & 6 (Dhulian-Rajshahi-Aricha) and 9 & 10 (Sonamura-Daudkhandi) would be expanded. It was argued that railways and waterways are cost-effective compared to road networks. Due to the new connecting routes, 1.5 million metric tons traffic is transported per annum through them, out of which 1.495 million metric tons is the trade between India and Bangladesh, while only 0.005 million metric tons is transit cargo. Not all the points that were deliberated upon found a place in the joint statement. The Speaker stated that Bangladesh has sent an invite through the Minister in charge of DoNER (Development of Northeastern Region) to the Chief Ministers of the Northeast region.

Dr. Pattanaik mentioned there were 5 major railway links prior to partition. Trade using the railways was snapped in 1965 after the Indo-Pak war. Both the countries are cooperating to restore the railway link that existed making the region economically vibrant. The two countries also witnessed the inauguration of the Rupsha Railway Bridge. They agreed to upgrade Khulna-Darshana and Parbatipur-Kaunia railway links for bilateral traffic. India will provide 20 diesel locomotives to Bangladesh Railway on grant. She also discussed the supply of road construction equipment and machinery to the Road and Highways Department of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also expressed is interest in becoming  part of the trilateral highway between India, Myanmar and Thailand.

Dr. Pattanaik mentioned that the second freight gate at Petrapole-Benapole Integrated Check-Post (ICP) would help in reducing the congestion on this route. Very often trucks from both the sides wait for hours for custom clearance. During Sheikh Hasina’s visit, India announced free transit facility for Bangladeshi exports to third countries using Indian ports. Within the Coastal Shipping Agreement of 2015, it is now proposed to include third country EXIM cargo.

Unit 1 of the 1320 MW Maitree power plant in Rampal, Bangladesh was inaugurated, and it is expected the second unit will be inaugurated around December. This will help Bangladesh to overcome its energy needs.

The Speaker mentioned that Bangladesh has requested India to allow the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link where a freight train resumed after 56 years, for trade with Nepal and Bhutan.  The Indian side requested Bangladesh to remove port restrictions at Chilahati-Haldibari and also other non-tariff barriers at the Agartala-Akhaura ICP for easy market access to Northeastern states. She observed the limitation of the variety of products that could be transported through this route, considering that the route allows trade on the positive list, unlike other trading points where trade takes place on the basis of a negative list. India requested Bangladesh to facilitate a high capacity 765KV transmission line from Katihar, Bihar to Bornagar, Assam through Parbotipur in Bangladesh. Indian requests also included the implementation of the 2019 MoU for providing a coastal radar system for greater maritime security.

Bangladesh has requested to expedite water sharing on Teesta River. It also requested India to facilitate import of power from Nepal and Bhutan. The Indian side already has a mechanism for cross border electricity trade in place. Bangladesh also sought assistance from India to get petroleum and petroleum products for its domestic requirements. Dr. Pattanaik referred to this request and said that this will be implemented once Assam’s Numaligarh Refinery that is supposed to provide high speed diesel to Bangladesh is completed. Bangladesh has also allowed India to use its territory to transit oil from Assam to Tripura. India has taken the initiative to provide medical treatment of Bangladesh Muktijoddhas at medical facilities in India. Efforts for convening the Joint Working Group on Sundarbans would also to be started.

The Speaker stated that Indo-Bangladesh trade has received a massive boost. The total trade which was only US$ 2 billion few years back has grown to US$18 billion. Bangladesh’s exports to India nearly amount to US$ 2 billion. Bangladesh often complains about the lopsided trade between the two countries. Interestingly Bangladesh’s trade with China is equally lop sided. However, this issue is rarely raised in public, as trade imbalance with India becomes a part of domestic politics. China, under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement in which Bangladesh is also a member, announced that 97% of Bangladeshi goods would have duty-free access to the Chinese market. However this action was portrayed in Bangladesh as a demonstration of Chinese generosity. It needs to be noted that much of what Bangladesh imports from India goes to the production of garments which Bangladesh exports to Western countries adding to the country’s forex reserves.

The two countries want to complete negotiation on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by 2026, when Bangladesh graduates from being a least developed country (LDC) to a developing country. This is significant as CEPA will include service and investments. Since most of the concessions Bangladesh enjoys as a LDC will go, the way forward could be expanding the export basket in trade and include services. The Speaker argued that having connectivity in place would not suffice unless the two countries address issues of trade barriers, congestion at land ports and move to a digital platform for clearance of goods.

Another major challenge the Speaker noted is the Bangladeshi expectations from India to put pressure on Myanmar for repatriation of Rohingyas. She said that India is facing the problem of refugees. Not just Rohingyas but other ethnic people from Chin state have sought shelter in India. Mizoram’s Chief Minister Zoramthanga has sheltered them despite no formal governmental policy being in place for the same. She also noted that India is building 50,000 houses under a grant project in Rakhine state in Myanmar. Most Rohingyas in Bangladesh, however, have refused to go back to Myanmar until the citizenship laws are changed. This becomes an internal matter for Myanmar, where India has no jurisdiction.

The Speaker briefly mentioned the 54 common rivers that India and Bangladesh share. Yet cooperation on water, including basin management has been sluggish. The 38th Joint River Commission (JRC) held its meeting in August after a gap of 12 years. Currently, most of the debate on water sharing revolves around Teesta. In 2026, the Ganges Water Treaty is going to expire after 30 years of being in existence. It is important that talks on this issue are initiated. Within India it is important to build consensus, as many of the States which share Ganges water are facing water scarcity.  

Lastly, Dr. Pattanaik touched upon the finalisation of initial procurement plans for vehicles for the Bangladeshi armed forces. She touched upon issues related to border crimes. She also mentioned the high-level tri-services meeting, annual defence dialogue, joint anti-terror military exercises, coordinated patrol by coast guards and navies as some steps that have been initiated. A recurrent theme in bilateral relations is the firings at the border which have resulted in deaths. Bangladesh insisted on a zero-death policy. Dr. Pattanaik delinked the killings and illegal migration. She contextualised the information with reference to two points- smuggling at the border, mainly of cattle (illegal in India, but not in Bangladesh), and lack of intense patrol on the Bangladesh side compared to India. She mentioned that the two countries have Home Ministry level talks to address the issue of human trafficking due to the porous border.

The Report was prepared by Ms. Vanrika Satyan, Intern, East Asia Centre, MP-IDSA