Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's India visit: A few questions to ask
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's forthcoming visit to India (December 18-20) is being viewed with mixed feelings by Indian diplomats and security mandarins. Twenty treaties are set to be inked between the two countries on diverse areas, including nuclear energy, space and satellite technology.
Importantly, in an extraordinary gesture, Hasina will honour 1,688 family members of martyred officers of the Indian armed forces by offering them Rs 5 lakh each, along with a plaque.
This will reinforce the existing warm ties between India and Bangladesh, testifying to India's contribution to the Bangladeshi liberation struggle. The debt and gratitude lingers on despite desperate attempts by anti-India forces and Khaleda Zia machinations to manipulate history by downplaying or erasing India's role in the 1971 War.
Hasina has also decided to erect a war memorial at the Brahmanbaria district exclusively dedicated to the fallen heroes of the Indian Army during the liberation struggle. Again, this is no mean gesture!
Noble overtures apart, the two countries are expected to iron out the longstanding issue of Teesta waters which remains an irritant between the two nations because of what's perceived as Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's obstinacy.
Other issues to be discussed and formalised are being worked out between the two sides. Cooperation on intelligence-sharing and anti-terror measures is seen as high on agenda. Hasina, as always, will hold extensive parleys with President Pranab Mukherjee on whom she has always relied upon, even when out of power. She still depends on his wise counsel on statecraft and related dos and donts.
It remains to be seen if the BJP government in power or the party cadres will raise with Hasina the matter of growing atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh which, inter alia, include grabbing of Hindu property, desecration of Hindu temples, forced conversions and the recent brutal communal excesses in Nasirpur.
The shameful incidents commencing with Kalipuja (end of October this year) continued for a long time, shaking the Hindus' trust in Hasina for their safety and well-being. Alleged connivance of local Awami League goons needs to be explained to allay the concerns of Hindus in India.
Another worrisome factor is Bangladesh gravitating towards China, which already has substantial investments in Dhaka and bilateral ties between the two countries are incremental. Chinese president Xi Jinping's Dhaka visit in October 2016 (the first for a Chinese head of state in 30 years) is worth taking note of. Significantly, his visit was described as "a comprehensive partnership to cooperation", upgrading to "a strategic partnership".
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| India and Bangladesh are expected to iron out the longstanding issue of Teesta waters. (Photo: India Today) |
This novel dynamics needs to be watched by hawks keeping a close eye on Chinese attempts to woo Bangladesh, at a time when China's stance towards India remains hardened - especially in blocking India's move to prevail upon the UN to declare Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar as terrorists.
Post the Uri attack, things are rapidly changing in the Indian neighbourhood and in this light, the Chinese footprint calls for caution.
The China-Bangladesh bonhomie does not end here. Strategists were astounded to note Bangladesh acquiring two Chinese submarines on November 14, costing $203 million. The type 035 G diesel electric submarines, armed with torpedoes and mines, are capable of attacking all kinds of ships.
These deadly acquisitions from China increase Bangladesh's military might. China already provides training facilities to Bangladeshi forces. Sceptics reckon that addition of submarines may complicate maritime security as India and Myanmar are the two naval entities in the region.
Staying on course to the Chinese strategic interest in Bangladesh and vice versa, there is a powerful pro-China lobby active in Bangladesh. It's thought that the Prime Minister's energy adviser, Tawfiq-e-Ilahi, is spearheading the Chinese agenda and his team includes no other than Hasina's son Joy, ex-foreign minister Dipu Moni and IT minister Junaid Ahmad.
Biplob Barua is a ruling party activist lobbying with China. Tawfiq is a Harvard PhD holder and an ex-civil servant with huge administrative and geopolitical experience. This lobby feels emboldened after Xi's successful Dhaka visit.
Submarines apart, Bangladesh seems to be on a spree to make itself a militarily powerful nation. Every sovereign country reserves the right to acquire an arsenal and be strong, but Bangladesh, at this point of time, faces no real threat. Yet, it's building a new airbase close to Myanmar, opening new military cantonments and adding frigates to its naval fleet.
Earlier in 2013, Bangladesh had signed a billion-dollar military deal with Russia essentially to buy fighter training jets, helicopters and anti-tank missiles.
Meanwhile, Indian defence minister Manohar Parikkar is scheduled to visit the nation on November 30. It's expected that he would iron out creases in defence matters, getting a first-hand account of what Bangladesh is up to, becoming a major military power in South Asia.
His assessment is also expected to help the Indian establishment deal with military-linked questions while Hasina is in Delhi next month. What can perhaps be done now is to wean Bangladesh away from China.
This looks imperative in the view of the rapidly changing scenario in the vicinity. Perhaps New Delhi's team of top security and foreign ministry officials can undertake a fresh round of brainstorming to address the matter.