Hasina, Modi scripted a new chapter in Bangladesh-India ties: Analysts

Bangladesh and India have scripted a new chapter in bilateral ties with the two prime ministers agreed to cooperate in fresh areas in the years to come, analysts say.

Nurul Islam Hasibbdnews24.com
Published : 8 April 2017, 07:23 PM
Updated : 9 April 2017, 06:00 AM

Sheikh Hasina reached New Delhi on Friday on a four-day state visit with an expectation back in Dhaka that the Teesta water sharing issue will be resolved.

She stumbled with a surprise when her counterpart Narendra Modi received her at the airport, keeping aside the Indian protocol. Ahead of the visit, New Delhi even announced that it is naming a road on Bangabandhu.

After the summit meeting on Saturday, Modi expressed his firm belief that there will be an “early solution” to the sharing of Teesta river waters.

He announced $5 billion line of credit for Bangladesh’s development and defence purchase, the biggest ever India has offered to any country.

Modi termed the visit another “golden era” in the relations while Hasina said Bangladesh considers India “most important neighbour and one of our key development partners”.

Former Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said Bangladesh-India ties were “consolidated further today with the signing of several agreements, including another line of credit”.

“Though the Teesta agreement was not signed, bilateral ties received a significant boost in the transport connectivity and defence sectors,” he told bdnews24.com.

“I believe the visit will add heft to bilateral ties that have reached a height, hitherto never achieved”.

The two prime ministers have “scripted a new chapter of Indo-Bangla ties," one of India's leading strategic commentators Saurabh Shukla told bdnews24.com.

"The strategic agreements signed during the visit, PM receiving Sheikh Hasina, the naming of a road in New Delhi on Bangabandhu all these reflect how deep rooted are our ties, and both leaders have etched a new strategic paradigm," Shukla, Editor in Chief of NewsMobile.in and NewsMobile.Asia said.

"It is remarkable how Sheikh Hasina has fought against terrorism which is what Narendra Modi is doing in India, and that binds them as strong leaders”.

A former Bangladesh Ambassador M Humayun Kabir, who also served in India during his diplomatic career, said the visit and its outcomes were “good”, but “it needs further energy to lift it into a new era”.

He particularly mentioned that he was expecting “a clear idea on when the Teesta issue would be resolved”.  “We were also expecting a clear strategy on how to increase our exports to the Indian market,” he said, for example.

However, opposition BNP criticised the signing of agreements on defence cooperation as both leaders agreed to craft “a strong defence relation”.

The two PMs agreed to foster “mutually beneficial and deeper” defence cooperation, taking into account the history of cooperation which began with both forces’ joint operation during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.

BNP said that military agreements, which were related to training and capacity building, were tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi military analyst Major General Md Abdur Rashid (retd), Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies (ICLDS), termed such claims as “illogical and mere political propaganda”.

“I did not find anything in those agreements through which India can interfere in Bangladesh military’s sovereign decision-making process,” he said.

“Rather I would say a new chapter has been opened up indeed through the visit. I can see newer cooperation in the field of space technology, civil nuclear energy and cyber security which was much needed for us”.

Modi appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism and said: "We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her government's ‘zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us."

Bangladesh and India have also agreed to jointly produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which will be released in his birth centenary year in 2020.

Two countries will also make a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh which will be released in 2021, marking the golden jubilee year of Bangladesh’s independence.