Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakrabarty has said India needs to sign and ratify the Teesta River Water sharing pact and Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh has a genuine grievance about India not delivering on these agreements that became hostage to Indian domestic politics,” the former envoy said.
Pinak Ranjan came up with the remark while delivering his speech on ‘India’s Foreign Policy Towards Neighbourhood: Its Look East Policy and India-China Relations’ at Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) Wellington, Tamil Nadu recently, according to Indian External Affairs Ministry’s website.
He laid emphasis on speeding up implementation of connectivity projects-road and rail-and upgrading border infrastructure for trade.
Pinak highly appreciated the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and said she has shown ‘tremendous sagacity’ in pursuing constructive relations with India, resulting in significant benefits in economic, industrial and security spheres.
“India-Bangladesh relations have been transformed under the enlightened leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” he said.
Bangladesh has emerged as India’s largest trading partner in Saarc, after India removed tariffs on Bangladesh’s exports.
He said Bangladesh has cooperated in controlling the menace of North-Eastern Indian insurgencies and helped tame insurgent groups which operated out of camps and sanctuaries in Bangladesh.
Pinak observed that Bangladesh’s emergence as an independent country, through the bloody Liberation War of 1971, left its society deeply divided.
“This had a lasting impact on its politics with ideological tension between the secular imperative and Islamic leanings.”
He said there is a feeling that India behaves like a big brother, does not deliver on its promises and takes advantage of Bangladesh and yet mindset problems prevail which makes Bangladesh suspicious of India.
China’s role in Bangladesh has been significant in the infrastructure and defence supplies sectors, said the former diplomat.
“A Chinese company has won the tender for building the Padma Bridge which when completed will have a transformational effect on internal connectivity and a huge boost for economic activity. It is not surprising that China’s is a major trading partner of Bangladesh,” he added.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Dhaka from June 25-27 and during the visit the BJP government assured Bangladesh of settling Teesta and LBA issues like the Congress government.
India termed her visit ‘an excellent beginning’.
