Bangladesh is impressing upon India the need to use its influence on Myanmar to create a situation to prevent migration and help in the return of Rohinhyas to their homes.
In the backdrop of the Rohingya refugee issue, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is leaving for Dhaka on a two-day visit from October 23, and is expected to inaugurate 15 projects financed by India. Her visit follows Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's visit to Bangladesh, during which he signed agreements for line of credit worth $4.5 billion.
The two sides are also expected to discuss the Rohingya crisis. Bangladesh is impressing upon India the need to use its influence on Myanmar to create a situation to prevent migration and help in the return of Rohinhyas to their homes. Dhaka was earlier incensed, when India had announced its support for Myanmar security operations. But later, India recalibrated its stance.
The India-Bangladesh joint commission, to be chaired by Swaraj and her Bangladeshi counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali would review the progress made in implementing the decisions taken when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dhaka in June 2015. India is also participating in setting up a Russian-supported civil nuclear plant in Bangladesh. Swaraj has also sought a meeting with opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) chief Begum Khaleda Zia. With elections just about a year away, India is attempting to build bridges across a political spectrum.
India and Bangladesh have recently finalised the $4.5 billion Line of Credit (LoC) that had been announced during Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in April. The 2016 LOC was at $2 billion. But Bangladeshi media has been agog with news reports that the progress on the LoC was disappointed. Also the issue of Teesta is once again haunting ties between the two countries.
With the Sheikh Hasina government in a tight spot over multiple issues, Opposition BNP has upped the ante. It has raked up the Rohingya issue to show India and the Hasina government in bad light.
Gautan Sen, a retired IAS officer who has served in North-Eastern states believes that Rohingya issue may add a more contentious factor in Bangladesh's domestic milieu. "With respect to India, the anti-India elements in Bangladesh have been able to capitalise on New Delhi's initial non-committal posture in taking note of the anti-Rohingya stance in Myanmar and providing relief assistance to deal with the refugee influx. At the global level, the failure of the Bangladesh government to convince the UNSC to pass a resolution on the Rohingya situation has given the BNP-led opposition an opportunity to berate the government," he said.
The indian push
Bangladesh is impressing upon India the need to use its influence on Myanmar to create a situation to prevent migration and help in the return of Rohinhyas to their homes.
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