Last Wednesday, Bangladesh and India have signed a framework agreement for utilising a $500 million line of credit extended by New Delhi last year. The countries also signed two other Memorandum of Understandings for collaboration between the naval forces of the two countries. The agreement and the MoUs were signed following talks between a defence delegation led by Principal Staff Officer of Bangladesh Army and the Indian Defence Secretary at Delhi’s South Block.
However, under the framework agreement for use of the line of credit, Bangladesh will identify its defence hardware needs and India will examine the armaments it makes so that the two sides can move forward. The agreement also included, Bangladesh can also use a ‘certain percentage’ of the $500 million line of credit to buy weapons from countries other than India but that is only subject to ‘India’s approval’.
First of all, India’s track record as an arms exporter bears witness of its limited success.
Be it small arms or tanks to fighter jets – the Indian army itself is not only the world’s largest importer of foreign weaponry and ammunition – but it never uses indigenous or locally produced weapons and ammunition. Secondly, why should India examine the armaments we need? Are we lacking in having our own weapons experts and defence analysts? And third, if Bangladesh has to spend the $500 million as per India’s approval, we practically don’t have any authority over the loan.
We know, there are two broad reasons why India fails so miserably to become more self-reliant in arms production, and thus remains so heavily dependent on Russia and the Western World.
One, India has a reputation in the international arms industry for importing substandard equipment at inflated prices. And two, the nexus between the mandarins of the Defence Ministry and the State-owned arms companies. Both reasons have been confirmed and explained in details by the renowned Hindustan Times. And that’s not all, less than a year ago, the Indian Army itself rejected Indian made rifles for a second year in a row because of poor quality. If the Indian weapons manufacturer can’t even produce a world-quality rifle, what can it then produce?
Also the Indian army itself is short of cash by as much as 15,783 crore rupees according to the latest India Today lead report. So, why it has become suddenly so important for extending the line of credit to Bangladesh?
We don’t know what Bangladesh delegation discussed with the Indian counterpart, but it’s clearly understandable that the agreement and the MoUs signed with India makes no sense. Whether we like it or not our defence preparations have to keep in India and defence cooperation with India negates that premises.
We do not want to fight India but if our defence arrangement is not independent of India then against which country we need to justify defence expenses is the question that must be answered. To be part of India’s defence we do not need to spend huge money on our defence. India will be our defence and that seems to be the idea guiding the thinking of the present government.
This cannot be the thinking of a free country. Such a policy for destroying the defence needs to be considered essentially for a free country. Our friendship with India is proving unhelpful for existence as an independent country.
