Having settled both the land and the maritime Boundary disputes with Bangladesh, India now hopes it can also resolve several other issues with its eastern neighbour on the borders, like human trafficking, smuggling of drugs and counterfeits even while increasing economic cooperation. Bangladesh is the first neighbour with whom India has resolved the Border issue even as disagreements with China, Pakistan and even Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar continue.
A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Bangladesh on a two-day tour, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Friday said India now plans to increase the economic activity with Bangladesh by setting up Special Economic Zones to boost trade. India has told Bangladesh that they will give National Treatment to Bangladeshi goods.
In fact, when the Permanent Court of Arbitration resolved the sea Boundary dispute between the two nations last year, India decided not to appeal against it. The FS, while indicating towards disputes with Pakistan, said that the land Boundary Agreement (lBA) with Bangladesh shows India has a “positive bent of mind” and if other neighbours also come forward things can move faster.
“lBA is not an ordinary achievement. This is affirmation of our Neighbour First and Act East policy. The agreement will have impact on our Northeastern region. The agreement will help better management of Borders. We expect security situation to improve. Since lBA has helped in building trust, illegal activities on the Borders will be under check. With the resolution of enclaves there will be clarity on disputes and secure Borders can allow more activity,” Jaishankar said.
He mentioned bus connectivity, movement of goods, coastal shipping, telecom and internet linkages as some of the areas for co-operation between the two sides. During the PM’s tour there is a possibility of an agreement for showing Bangladesh television programmes in India. India hopes to extend power grid connectivity to the eastern part of Bangladesh as well. India, at present, is supplying 500 Mega Watt power to the neighbouring country. This apart, India will now also supply diesel through West Bengal.
Apart from holding talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi will also meet prominent political leaders including leader of the Opposition Raushon Ershad and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.