Time to Move Beyond Connectivity – The Diplomat

The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina just lately launched a railway hyperlink between the 2 nations. The 10.5-kilometer-long rail line connects Haldibari within the jap Indian state of West Bengal with Chilahati in Bangladesh.

The Haldibari-Chilahati railway line was amongst a number of overland trans-border connections that have been snapped within the wake of the India-Pakistan warfare of 1965. Bangladesh was then East Pakistan.

But even after it broke away from Pakistan to emerge an impartial nation in 1971, trans-border hyperlinks remained severed, a mirrored image of the deeply troubled bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh within the interval between 1975 and 1996. It was solely after the Awami League got here to energy in Bangladesh in 1996 that bilateral ties started bettering and the Indian and Bangladeshi governments began to revive street and rail hyperlinks.

In 1999, a bus service linking Kolkata with Dhaka was inaugurated. Another connecting Dhaka with Agartala in India’s northeast adopted quickly after.

In 2008, an outdated railway line between Kolkata and Dhaka, which had remained suspended for 43 years, was restored. It paved the way in which for the inauguration of the Maitri (Friendship) Express between the 2 nations. Other rail strains, together with these between Petrapole (India) and Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India) and Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India) and Rohanpur (Bangladesh), and Radhikapur (India) and Birol (Bangladesh) have since been restored.

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The Haldibari-Chilahati railway line is the most recent trans-border hyperlink to be revived. More railway hyperlinks are set to be established this 12 months.

India and Bangladesh share historic, civilizational and cultural ties; Bengali, which is spoken in each nations, is a robust bond. Bilateral relations have typically been heat, particularly when the Awami League has been in energy in Bangladesh.

Since the Awami League assumed the reins in 2009, relations have improved considerably. Dhaka has acted robustly to handle India’s issues with regard to anti-India militant teams taking shelter on Bangladeshi soil. However, India has failed to handle Bangladesh’s issues over river water sharing; an settlement on sharing of the waters of the River Teesta stays elusive. While the query of unlawful immigration from Bangladesh to India has dogged bilateral relations for many years, current Indian insurance policies have prompted appreciable disquiet in Dhaka.

The Modi authorities’s enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and plans to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has triggered apprehension over an impending exodus of Bengali-speaking folks from Assam to Bangladesh. In addition to upsetting the Hasina authorities, offensive statements by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah likening Bangladeshi immigrants to “termites” have angered Bangladeshis.

During the current India-Bangladesh digital summit, Modi described Bangladesh as “a major pillar” of India’s “neighborhood first” coverage. From the beginning of his prime ministerial tenure, it was his “special priority” to strengthen India’s ties with Bangladesh, he stated.

Officials say the Haldibari-Chilahati rail route will enhance bilateral journey and commerce ties and enhance people-to-people contact.

But pursuit of insurance policies dangerous to Bangladesh and derisive remarks about Bangladeshis by Indian ministers have severely undermined public goodwill for India in Bangladesh. New Delhi might want to do way more than merely offering street and rail routes to enhance people-to-people contact between India and Bangladesh.