PM Narendra Modi’s Bangladesh trip: A double win for India

At the fag end of his speech in Dhaka University, Narendra Modi quoted celebrated Bengali poet Jibanananda Das and said, ‘Abar ashibo phire’ (Will come back again). The cynics may say it was merely another trick from the ace speaker’s arsenal, but the spontaneous applause clearly showed that he managed to touch a chord with the large Bangladeshi student community present.

Modi in his Bangladesh tour, not only attempted to win the hearts of the people of that nation, but by cementing a working relationship with the West Bengal chief minister, aimed to ensure that smooth coordination takes place in the critical Indo-Bangladesh relationship in future.

A cursory look at newspapers from Bangladesh before the Indian PM’s trip indicated one common theme - the country wants to be treated as an equal, not as a poor cousin. Also, the unresolved business of water from the Teesta river is a massive red flag. To his credit, Modi managed to reasonably address both concerns. In his speech at Dhaka University, Modi said expansionism is not the way to go and development is the go to mantra. About Teesta, Modi alluded to the concerns of his domestic constituency, but said that efforts will be made in full earnest to solve the problem at the earliest. Even the joint declaration has mentioned this emphatically.

Modi also tacitly gave a strong message to Pakistan and said terrorism or promoting terrorism will not be tolerated. After Sheikh Hasina became PM, many anti-India modules operating from Bangladesh have been neutralised and Modi hailed this move. He also alluded to the fact that even if Pakistan is not on board, other SAARC nations will strive actively to increase connectivity and commerce among each other. In a way, Modi implied that India will look to leverage its goodwill among SAARC nations to extend its soft power.

The 22 agreements signed between the two countries had more than what met the eye. The most celebrated one was the exchange of Instruments of Ratification of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement. Modi in his rhetorical flourish even equated it to the falling of the Berlin wall. On the ground, nothing changes, but notionally, India has handed 10,000 acres of land to Bangladesh with this treaty. While BJP (especially its Assam unit) was completely against the deal when they were in opposition, now Modi deemed it as the joining of hearts. Another blatant U-turn some may say, but for the good, this time.

Another significant deal is that from now, Indian cargo vessels will be able to use the Chittagong port to ferry goods directly, without routing it via Singapore. Point to be noted - China played an active role in developing the port. India also has decided to be a key partner to completely revamp Bangladesh’s energy sector. Both government and private initiatives were announced to help Bangladesh achieve its desired goal. The mounting trade deficit between the two countries has been a cause of concern and Modi mentioned this in his speech as well. To tackle this, it has been decided that SEZs will be set up in Bangladesh, where Indian companies can produce goods and export to India. In addition, India has announced a US $2 billion credit line to Bangladesh.

The occasional niggles between border forces of the two countries also found a place in the PM’s address. In a way, he ducked neither of the contentious issues and tried to be forthcoming about most of them.

The results of these announcements have been an almost unprecedented bipartisan appreciation in Bangladesh to India’s efforts. Even parties which are perceived to be supposedly anti-India have welcomed the Indian government’s initiatives. So overall, Modi seems to have generated the desired outcome from this trip and it wasn’t merely confined to photo-ops and chest thumping nationalism in front of NRI crowds. In fact, at Dhaka University, Modi also underplayed the 'India is great' card that he routinely plays out in other nations. His whole speech was replete with examples of the shared traditions between the two countries and was etched with the achievements of Bangladesh in various walks of life. At one point he said, "In this interdependent world, any country however powerful, cannot achieve its goals on its own.” 

(Picture courtesy PTI)

It is left to be seen how effectively India can leverage the goodwill generated by this trip to deepen ties with Bangladesh.

Another major win for Modi was patching up his broken relationship with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Both are politicians with different ideologies and ofcourse there will be the inevitable war of words come the Bengal Assembly Elections next year. But the bad blood generated during the Lok Sabha election and subsequently by Amit Shah linking the Saradha scam with the Burdwan blast at a rally in Bengal seems to be a thing of the past. Both the politicians seem to have developed a rapport to work together for the greater good.

The bonhomie started last month when both of them shared stage in West Bengal for unveiling three Central schemes and seems to have carried on despite barbs from the opposition. Mamata’s presence during signing of the landmark treaty was a message that when it comes to Bangladesh, both the Centre and West Bengal are on the same page.

Probably the fact that Modi himself was a CM and hence understands the psyche of how states perceive any action taken by the Centre has helped. To get Mamata on board with the Land Boundary Agreement, Modi promised to suitably compensate Bengal for rehabilitating people. For the Teesta pact, there are reports that two secretary level committees will be formed to smoothen out differences. How water can be provided to Bangladesh without hurting the interest of West Bengal is the key issue that the committees will look after. The path to reconciliation may still be far, but at least Modi has broken the initial resistance to get all the concerned parties to the discussion table.

(Picture courtesy AFP)

The Burdwan blast last year was a chilling reminder of how terrorists use different lacunae in the security system to hatch sinister plans. It was also embarrassing for India that its land was used to hatch a plan which reportedly targeted the Bangladesh PM. Terrorism is a global menace which transcends the ambit of petty politics. Security related cooperation has been a major focus of Modi’s visit and now, with both the West Bengal government and the Centre finally on the same page, hopefully incidents like that in Burdwan will not be repeated in future.