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[🇧🇩] Indo-Bangla Relation: India's Regional Ambition, Geopolitical Reality, and Strategic Options For Bangladesh
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Bangladesh Defense Forum
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Indian way to brainwash Bangladesh's youth by mentioning how Indians helped Bangladesh in their liberation war. Indians always resort to emotional blackmailing by narrating their role in 1971 but remains silent about how BSF kills innocent Bangladeshis on the border. Pathetic.
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New Delhi attaches highest priority to friendship with Dhaka
Indian President Droupadi Murmu today said New Delhi attaches the highest priority to its friendship with Dhaka
New Delhi attaches highest priority to friendship with Dhaka
Says Indian President Murmu
Photo: X/President of India
Indian President Droupadi Murmu today said New Delhi attaches the highest priority to its friendship with Dhaka.
"We are committed to realising its full potential," she said as a 100-member youth delegation from Bangladesh called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Photo: X/President of India
Indian President Droupadi Murmu today said New Delhi attaches the highest priority to its friendship with Dhaka.
"We are committed to realising its full potential," she said as a 100-member youth delegation from Bangladesh called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Murmu said India and Bangladesh share a unique bond, founded on their history, culture, and sacrifices and India is proud to have been a friend and partner in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and continues to share the development journey with Bangladesh.
"We must preserve and nurture this spirit which inspires the unique bond between our two countries," a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan quoted her as saying.
The president said, "The relationship between India and Bangladesh is a relationship of the heart and soul. We have a deep cultural link, and a common love for art, music, cricket, and food. Our national anthems, both penned by Tagore, are a source of pride. We share the love for 'Baul' music and the works of Kazi Nazrul Islam. Our unity and diversity are celebrated in our shared heritage."
Murmu said she was happy to note that India and Bangladesh is home to a large and energetic youth population, with unlimited potential to shape the world and urged all to harness this potential.
"As the leaders of tomorrow, it is the responsibility of youth to steer us towards a green, sustainable and peaceful world," she added.
The president urged members of the youth delegation from Bangladesh to use the opportunity to experience various aspects of India and its diversity and developments in the fields of science, technology, and arts.
She said that as they work towards building a "Sonar Bangla", they should also strive to strengthen the bonds of peace, prosperity, and friendship between India and Bangladesh.
She said she was happy to interact with a group of young and talented minds from Bangladesh.
"We must preserve and nurture this spirit which inspires the unique bond between our two countries," a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan quoted her as saying.
The president said, "The relationship between India and Bangladesh is a relationship of the heart and soul. We have a deep cultural link, and a common love for art, music, cricket, and food. Our national anthems, both penned by Tagore, are a source of pride. We share the love for 'Baul' music and the works of Kazi Nazrul Islam. Our unity and diversity are celebrated in our shared heritage."
Murmu said she was happy to note that India and Bangladesh is home to a large and energetic youth population, with unlimited potential to shape the world and urged all to harness this potential.
"As the leaders of tomorrow, it is the responsibility of youth to steer us towards a green, sustainable and peaceful world," she added.
The president urged members of the youth delegation from Bangladesh to use the opportunity to experience various aspects of India and its diversity and developments in the fields of science, technology, and arts.
She said that as they work towards building a "Sonar Bangla", they should also strive to strengthen the bonds of peace, prosperity, and friendship between India and Bangladesh.
She said she was happy to interact with a group of young and talented minds from Bangladesh.
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India factor and Jan 7 election
THE United Nations has been concerned about the security of small states from the time it came into existence. Its concern was because the large...
www.newagebd.net
India factor and Jan 7 election
by M Serajul Islam | Published: 00:00, Mar 29,2024
THE United Nations has been concerned about the security of small states from the time it came into existence. Its concern was because the large number of states that became independent due to decolonisation and joined the United Nations after it had established following the end of World War II were mostly small states. The United Nations recognised the vulnerability of these small states to threats of the big powers in the UN Charter and reaffirmed it through UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 of May 9, 1994.
Resolution A/RES/49/31 stressed, appealed and requested regional and international organisations and the UN secretary general to assist the security of the small states under the UN Charter. The resolution called on the UN Security Council ‘to pay special attention to the protection and security of small states.’
Geography is lopsidedly in India’s favour in South Asia. India is a nuclear power. It is the fifth largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product and the third largest by purchasing power parity.
India is, thus, by far the most powerful country in South Asia surrounded by countries small in all respects sans Pakistan, which like India, is a nuclear power. The security syndrome of a small state vis-à-vis a powerful one as highlighted in the UN Charter and UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 are palpably present in Bangladesh-India relations. India complicated this syndrome further with its ‘all eggs in the Awami League basket’ foreign policy since 1971 under which it considers the interests and the adversaries of the Awami League as its own.
The January 7 election in Bangladesh highlighted the security syndrome of a small state notwithstanding the UN Charter and the UNGA resolution because the powerful states/organisations do not care about what they profess. The United States sent leading to the election several high-level delegations from the White House and the state department to Dhaka in pursuit of human rights and democracy focused on a free and fair election. The European Union also sent delegations to Dhaka for the same purpose. The spokesperson of the UN secretary general in New York became the beacon of hope for the opposition forces in their struggle for their political and democratic rights.
Bangladesh’s election, therefore, held great promise for overcoming the security syndrome of a small state because the powerful states/organisations appeared serious and committed to the UN Charter and the resolution on the security of small states. They failed to uphold their commitment because in the end, they succumbed to one of their own and allowed it to make a small state more insecure. Bangladesh, following the January 7 election, is now one push away from becoming a one-party state, permanently.
The general secretary of the Awami League spilt the beans. He claimed that ‘India stood strongly by our side’ and stopped the United States, the European Union and the United Nations from playing their ‘evil game’. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Indian government stopped the ‘evil game’ for reasons that the United States, the European Union and the United Nations failed to comprehend. It had to stop the pro-Islam Bangladesh Nationalist Party from gaining power in Bangladesh because it is the antithesis to the Hindutva mantra under which it would fight the crucial 2024 Indian general election. The BJP government worked through the Americans of Indian origin in the White House and the state department to stop the free and fair election that the Biden administration initially promised that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party would have won by a landslide.
The European Union and the United Nations followed the United States and backtracked on their commitment to a free and fair election. They watched the AL regime hold the absurdly surreal election. They also went into denial about the consequences that they had promised if the election was not free and fair.
Most Bangladeshis now, therefore, think that these powers betrayed them. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations walked into India’s game plan. They betrayed the cause of human rights, democracy and free and fair elections in Bangladesh and helped the cause of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva agenda to help it win India’s general election. They failed miserably to comprehend the Indian factor in the politics of Bangladesh and South Asia.
The January 7 election has been a defining moment, a watershed in Bangladesh-India relations. It flagged India’s unflinching support for the Awami League for which it successfully pursued the Aawami League’s case with the United Nations and the United European and the United Nations to withdraw their pursuit for a free and fair election to strengthen democracy and human rights in Bangladesh. The January 7 election, thus, gave most Bangladeshis a reason to be critical of India and not to be blindly grateful to it for its role in 1971 because it is now obvious to all and sundry that India’s most important interest in Bangladesh is to keep the Awami League in power at any cost.
Most Bangladeshis now believe that their political rights and their security concern as a small state will never go unless India changes its illogical ‘all eggs in the AL basket’ foreign policy. They further believe that they cannot trust the western powers and the United Nations and they must fight for their rights themselves. Anti-India sentiments are present in varying degrees in all the small states in South Asia. The Maldives used it for its successful ‘India Out’ movement. A ‘Boycott India’ movement started in Bangladesh spontaneously out of the disappointment after the January 7 election.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party was initially non-committal to the ‘Boycott India’ movement. It has now put its political weight behind it, sensing its potential. Bangladesh is a huge market for India with the balance of trade heavily in India’s favour. Bangladesh is the fourth largest remittance destination for India. Indians in Bangladesh remitted $10 billion in 2020 although curiously a few Bangladeshis are aware of it. Strategically, Bangladesh is priceless to India’s security concerns on the China factor.
Dramatic developments in information gathering and dissemination technologies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, et cetera are now exposing India’s ‘all eggs in AL basket policy’ as one against the UN Charter and UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 on protecting security concerns of the small states. The surreal policy has stood all these 53 years of Bangladesh-India relations. It has never been tested in the past as it is today due to these technologies that are exposing this policy as the worst obstacle for the development of a healthy and logical Bangladesh-India relations or that between a big and powerful neighbour and a small one. Ironically, India and Bangladesh need each other for a host of geopolitical, historical, environmental and economic reasons.
These technologies are also flagging for all and sundry the failure of the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to understand the Indian factor that is making them break their promises and siding with forces opposing democracy, human rights and free and fair elections. They are now less trustworthy to most Bangladeshis, the United Nations more so because of the Gaza genocide. The United States has been the worst loser due to its inability to grasp the India factor. Most Bangladeshis now regret that they trusted its promises and commitments while the Awami League believes that it is an ‘evil’ power. The much-vaunted Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States has failed miserably because it failed to understand the India factor, succumbed to India and backtracked on its promises to most Bangladeshis.
China assessed the India factor better than the rest. It benefited the most from the January 7 election although its containment was one of the major bedrocks of the US Into-Pacific Strategy. While India was busy convincing the United States to let the Awami League hold the election its way, China moved the closest to the AL regime at a time when it needed a power like China (and Russia) to counter the United Nations and the west. China also correctly assessed that the BJP-led government would not come openly and directly to assist the AL regime as the Congress-led government did in 2014 because the Hindutva mantra on which the Bharatiya Janata Party would be fighting India’s 2024 election perceives Bangladesh as an overwhelmingly Muslim-majority state.
M Serajul Islam is a former career ambassador.
by M Serajul Islam | Published: 00:00, Mar 29,2024
THE United Nations has been concerned about the security of small states from the time it came into existence. Its concern was because the large number of states that became independent due to decolonisation and joined the United Nations after it had established following the end of World War II were mostly small states. The United Nations recognised the vulnerability of these small states to threats of the big powers in the UN Charter and reaffirmed it through UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 of May 9, 1994.
Resolution A/RES/49/31 stressed, appealed and requested regional and international organisations and the UN secretary general to assist the security of the small states under the UN Charter. The resolution called on the UN Security Council ‘to pay special attention to the protection and security of small states.’
Geography is lopsidedly in India’s favour in South Asia. India is a nuclear power. It is the fifth largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product and the third largest by purchasing power parity.
India is, thus, by far the most powerful country in South Asia surrounded by countries small in all respects sans Pakistan, which like India, is a nuclear power. The security syndrome of a small state vis-à-vis a powerful one as highlighted in the UN Charter and UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 are palpably present in Bangladesh-India relations. India complicated this syndrome further with its ‘all eggs in the Awami League basket’ foreign policy since 1971 under which it considers the interests and the adversaries of the Awami League as its own.
The January 7 election in Bangladesh highlighted the security syndrome of a small state notwithstanding the UN Charter and the UNGA resolution because the powerful states/organisations do not care about what they profess. The United States sent leading to the election several high-level delegations from the White House and the state department to Dhaka in pursuit of human rights and democracy focused on a free and fair election. The European Union also sent delegations to Dhaka for the same purpose. The spokesperson of the UN secretary general in New York became the beacon of hope for the opposition forces in their struggle for their political and democratic rights.
Bangladesh’s election, therefore, held great promise for overcoming the security syndrome of a small state because the powerful states/organisations appeared serious and committed to the UN Charter and the resolution on the security of small states. They failed to uphold their commitment because in the end, they succumbed to one of their own and allowed it to make a small state more insecure. Bangladesh, following the January 7 election, is now one push away from becoming a one-party state, permanently.
The general secretary of the Awami League spilt the beans. He claimed that ‘India stood strongly by our side’ and stopped the United States, the European Union and the United Nations from playing their ‘evil game’. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Indian government stopped the ‘evil game’ for reasons that the United States, the European Union and the United Nations failed to comprehend. It had to stop the pro-Islam Bangladesh Nationalist Party from gaining power in Bangladesh because it is the antithesis to the Hindutva mantra under which it would fight the crucial 2024 Indian general election. The BJP government worked through the Americans of Indian origin in the White House and the state department to stop the free and fair election that the Biden administration initially promised that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party would have won by a landslide.
The European Union and the United Nations followed the United States and backtracked on their commitment to a free and fair election. They watched the AL regime hold the absurdly surreal election. They also went into denial about the consequences that they had promised if the election was not free and fair.
Most Bangladeshis now, therefore, think that these powers betrayed them. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations walked into India’s game plan. They betrayed the cause of human rights, democracy and free and fair elections in Bangladesh and helped the cause of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva agenda to help it win India’s general election. They failed miserably to comprehend the Indian factor in the politics of Bangladesh and South Asia.
The January 7 election has been a defining moment, a watershed in Bangladesh-India relations. It flagged India’s unflinching support for the Awami League for which it successfully pursued the Aawami League’s case with the United Nations and the United European and the United Nations to withdraw their pursuit for a free and fair election to strengthen democracy and human rights in Bangladesh. The January 7 election, thus, gave most Bangladeshis a reason to be critical of India and not to be blindly grateful to it for its role in 1971 because it is now obvious to all and sundry that India’s most important interest in Bangladesh is to keep the Awami League in power at any cost.
Most Bangladeshis now believe that their political rights and their security concern as a small state will never go unless India changes its illogical ‘all eggs in the AL basket’ foreign policy. They further believe that they cannot trust the western powers and the United Nations and they must fight for their rights themselves. Anti-India sentiments are present in varying degrees in all the small states in South Asia. The Maldives used it for its successful ‘India Out’ movement. A ‘Boycott India’ movement started in Bangladesh spontaneously out of the disappointment after the January 7 election.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party was initially non-committal to the ‘Boycott India’ movement. It has now put its political weight behind it, sensing its potential. Bangladesh is a huge market for India with the balance of trade heavily in India’s favour. Bangladesh is the fourth largest remittance destination for India. Indians in Bangladesh remitted $10 billion in 2020 although curiously a few Bangladeshis are aware of it. Strategically, Bangladesh is priceless to India’s security concerns on the China factor.
Dramatic developments in information gathering and dissemination technologies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, et cetera are now exposing India’s ‘all eggs in AL basket policy’ as one against the UN Charter and UNGA Resolution A/RES/49/31 on protecting security concerns of the small states. The surreal policy has stood all these 53 years of Bangladesh-India relations. It has never been tested in the past as it is today due to these technologies that are exposing this policy as the worst obstacle for the development of a healthy and logical Bangladesh-India relations or that between a big and powerful neighbour and a small one. Ironically, India and Bangladesh need each other for a host of geopolitical, historical, environmental and economic reasons.
These technologies are also flagging for all and sundry the failure of the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to understand the Indian factor that is making them break their promises and siding with forces opposing democracy, human rights and free and fair elections. They are now less trustworthy to most Bangladeshis, the United Nations more so because of the Gaza genocide. The United States has been the worst loser due to its inability to grasp the India factor. Most Bangladeshis now regret that they trusted its promises and commitments while the Awami League believes that it is an ‘evil’ power. The much-vaunted Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States has failed miserably because it failed to understand the India factor, succumbed to India and backtracked on its promises to most Bangladeshis.
China assessed the India factor better than the rest. It benefited the most from the January 7 election although its containment was one of the major bedrocks of the US Into-Pacific Strategy. While India was busy convincing the United States to let the Awami League hold the election its way, China moved the closest to the AL regime at a time when it needed a power like China (and Russia) to counter the United Nations and the west. China also correctly assessed that the BJP-led government would not come openly and directly to assist the AL regime as the Congress-led government did in 2014 because the Hindutva mantra on which the Bharatiya Janata Party would be fighting India’s 2024 election perceives Bangladesh as an overwhelmingly Muslim-majority state.
M Serajul Islam is a former career ambassador.
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Bangladesh reclaims 91 bighas of land in Thakurgaon from India
In a landmark development, the Border Guard Bangladesh has successfully reclaimed 91 bighas of land along the Jagdal and Beurajhari borders under Ranishankail upazila in Thakurgaon district, marking the end of a 70-year period under Indian control....
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Bangladesh reclaims 91 bighas of land in Thakurgaon from India
United News of Bangladesh . Thakurgaon | Published: 22:15, Apr 09,2024
-- UNB photo.
In a landmark development, the Border Guard Bangladesh has successfully reclaimed 91 bighas of land along the Jagdal and Beurajhari borders under Ranishankail upazila in Thakurgaon district, marking the end of a 70-year period under Indian control.
Lieutenant Colonel Tanjir Ahmed, commander of BGB's 50th Battalion in Thakurgaon, confirmed the development on Tuesday, symbolising the reclaimed territory by hoisting a white flag.
The retrieval was the culmination of a diplomatic and procedural engagement between Bangladesh and India, starting with a formal request by BGB for a land survey.
'This achievement stemmed from our initial identification of certain areas along the Jagdal and Beurajhari borders as rightfully belonging to Bangladesh. Following our appeal, a joint BGB and BSF (Border Security Force) survey corroborated our stance, leading to the restoration of these lands to Bangladesh,' explained Lt Col Tanjir.
The community along the borders has expressed immense joy over the return of the 91 bighas, which have now been recorded in the government's official land documents (khas khatian). The breakdown of the recovered land includes about 15 bighas in the Jagdal BOP (Border Outpost) area and approximately 76 bighas in the Beurajhari BOP area. Notably, 77 bighas of the land are arable, with 11 bighas comprising tea gardens and the remaining three bighas being river chars (riverine islands).
The conclusive joint survey, conducted on March 6 and 7 by the Assistant Survey and Charge Officer of Bangladesh Land Record and Survey Department alongside the Indian Survey Department's Assistant Charge Officer, not only affirmed the 91 bighas for Bangladesh but also recognised 23.5 bighas of land to be in India's favor
United News of Bangladesh . Thakurgaon | Published: 22:15, Apr 09,2024
-- UNB photo.
In a landmark development, the Border Guard Bangladesh has successfully reclaimed 91 bighas of land along the Jagdal and Beurajhari borders under Ranishankail upazila in Thakurgaon district, marking the end of a 70-year period under Indian control.
Lieutenant Colonel Tanjir Ahmed, commander of BGB's 50th Battalion in Thakurgaon, confirmed the development on Tuesday, symbolising the reclaimed territory by hoisting a white flag.
The retrieval was the culmination of a diplomatic and procedural engagement between Bangladesh and India, starting with a formal request by BGB for a land survey.
'This achievement stemmed from our initial identification of certain areas along the Jagdal and Beurajhari borders as rightfully belonging to Bangladesh. Following our appeal, a joint BGB and BSF (Border Security Force) survey corroborated our stance, leading to the restoration of these lands to Bangladesh,' explained Lt Col Tanjir.
The community along the borders has expressed immense joy over the return of the 91 bighas, which have now been recorded in the government's official land documents (khas khatian). The breakdown of the recovered land includes about 15 bighas in the Jagdal BOP (Border Outpost) area and approximately 76 bighas in the Beurajhari BOP area. Notably, 77 bighas of the land are arable, with 11 bighas comprising tea gardens and the remaining three bighas being river chars (riverine islands).
The conclusive joint survey, conducted on March 6 and 7 by the Assistant Survey and Charge Officer of Bangladesh Land Record and Survey Department alongside the Indian Survey Department's Assistant Charge Officer, not only affirmed the 91 bighas for Bangladesh but also recognised 23.5 bighas of land to be in India's favor
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Indian foreign secy likely to visit Bangladesh Saturday
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is likely to visit Bangladesh on Saturday as part of preparations for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi
Indian foreign secy likely to visit Bangladesh Saturday
File photo
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is likely to visit Bangladesh on Saturday as part of preparations for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi.
"The prime minister will visit India after the Indian elections that will end by the first week of June. So, our PM's visit will take place either in June or the first week of July," a diplomatic source told The Daily Star today.
During his visit, he will be meeting Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.
There are a lot of preparations that will be required ahead of the high-level state visit, and Vinay Mohan Kwatra will be discussing all the aspects of the bilateral relationship and the possible MoUs and agreements, the source said.
Bangladesh and India are close allies, having robust economic, political, and cultural ties. India considers Bangladesh a key neighbour to connect the northeast Indian states.
Over the last decade, a number of connectivity projects -- road, water, and railways -- through Bangladesh have been implemented to promote trade, transport, and connectivity.
Sheikh Hasina's visit to India is considered very important to further all aspects of the relationship.
File photo
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is likely to visit Bangladesh on Saturday as part of preparations for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi.
"The prime minister will visit India after the Indian elections that will end by the first week of June. So, our PM's visit will take place either in June or the first week of July," a diplomatic source told The Daily Star today.
During his visit, he will be meeting Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.
There are a lot of preparations that will be required ahead of the high-level state visit, and Vinay Mohan Kwatra will be discussing all the aspects of the bilateral relationship and the possible MoUs and agreements, the source said.
Bangladesh and India are close allies, having robust economic, political, and cultural ties. India considers Bangladesh a key neighbour to connect the northeast Indian states.
Over the last decade, a number of connectivity projects -- road, water, and railways -- through Bangladesh have been implemented to promote trade, transport, and connectivity.
Sheikh Hasina's visit to India is considered very important to further all aspects of the relationship.
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Evolution of Bangladesh-India ties
PINAK Ranjan Chakravarty is a visiting fellow of the Observer Research Foundation’s Regional Studies Initiative. The Research Foundation presents itself as...
www.newagebd.net
Evolution of Bangladesh-India ties
Ghulam Suhrawardi 20 April, 2024, 00:00
Transformation: Emergence of Bangladesh and Evolution of India-Bangladesh Ties Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, 1st edn KW Publishers, 2024
PINAK Ranjan Chakravarty is a visiting fellow of the Observer Research Foundation's Regional Studies Initiative. The Research Foundation presents itself as an independent global think tank based in Delhi, India. It has branches in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata. In this regard, it is also important to mention that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group, a key ally of Modi and his sectarian BJP political party, is one of the key backers of the foundation.
Among his many important credentials, one of Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's key milestones was serving as Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh from 2007 to 2009. After Bangladesh, Chakravarty served as India's ambassador to Thailand (2010–2011). Towards the end of his diplomatic career, Chakravarty served as special secretary (public diplomacy) in Delhi before being appointed secretary (economic relations) in the MEA. He retired from service in September 2013.
Chakravarty is a regular contributor to newspapers, journals, and books.
Pinak Chakravarty served in Bangladesh at a crucial time when several dramatic events took place. It was an election year when the country witnessed a de facto military coup and takeover in the guise of a caretaker government. Many argue, and not without justification, that Chakravarty and the country that he represented did not have a cosy relationship with the departing BNP and might have played on behalf of his government in the takeover and the inner workings of the transitional military government.
The then foreign minister and later India's president, Pranab Mukherjee, stated in his book The Coalition Years that he had a close relationship with the then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, and that, if Hasina returned to power, he assured the then coup leader, General Moyeen U Ahmed, the Bangladesh army chief and leader of the coup who initially took both Begum Khaleda Zia, the departing prime minister, and Shiekh Hasina on corruption charges, that he would ensure no harm is done to the chief.
The 2008 election, which several observers had claimed was 'free but not fair,' brought Sheikh Hasina to power in 2009 and has remained in power ever since. Three more elections have followed since 2009, all of which were rigged, and many suspect with Indian help.
This is the backdrop of Pinak Chakravarty's presence and the role he might have played then, as the high commissioner of India in Bangladesh, at a time when Pranab Mukherjee was India's foreign minister who, by his own admission, played a key role in the internal affairs of Bangladesh at the time. This makes Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's book, Transformation: Emergence of Bangladesh and Evolution of India-Bangladesh Ties, an interesting, if not curious, read.
In his book, Chakravarty summarised the domestic development in Bangladesh and its impact on bilateral ties. He traces the history of Bengal, the partition, and the birth of Bangladesh as a new nation in the subcontinent. He also discussed the political turmoil that ensued with the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of the independent nation. Mujib inspired the liberation struggle and is popularly called Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal), who is also the father of the nation.
The book covers the period he served as the high commissioner of India in Bangladesh, 2007–2009, when Bangladesh was embroiled in a number of crises, including political intervention by the military, the conflict between secularism and Islamist nationalism (this coincided with west-initiated Islamophobia), the ethnic separatist Chakma revolt in the south-east of Bangladesh, and communal tensions, risking Bangladesh's democratic journey and sustaining the amazing economic recovery that Bangladesh had by then achieved and was transforming itself from an 'international basket case' to a miracle economy.
The book duly acknowledges these political and economic dynamics and discusses the complex India-Bangladesh relations at great length. In particular, the book pays glowing tribute to prime minister Sheikh Hasina's remarkable contributions to transforming and strengthening Bangladesh-India relations, arguing that with yet another five-year term (thanks to rigged elections and India's blessings she has already served three terms since 2009), she will guide and cement further Bangladesh's future policies and ties with India. The book's twelve chapters mainly delve into India's interests and perspectives on India-Bangladesh ties.
The book was launched on March 28, 2024, at the meeting room of the Observer Research Foundation, which included an interactive session in which several speakers, including the former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, Shahidul Haque, participated.
While recounting his own experiences in Bangladesh and the vital role India played in shaping the politics of Bangladesh, Chakravarty explains how these Indian interventions that occurred during 2007–2009 and secured and entrenched the Hasina government that served India's interests are paying dividends even now. For example, Chakravarty elaborated on how India's intervention in Bangladesh's most recent elections, held on January 7, 2024, staved off America's insistence on and demand for free and fair elections. Indeed, thanks to India's forceful intervention, the overactive US ambassador Peter Hass, who enthusiastically canvassed for a free and fair election and supported, albeit indirectly, the opposition's demand for a non-party caretaker government to hold elections, was eventually subdued and silenced, and his and the opposition's demand for a caretaker government was never met.
The January 7, 2024, elections were held under the supervision of the government, and the opposition boycotted the election with the result that the ruling party has 'won' yet another election as they have since 2009, turning Bangladesh into a virtual one-party authoritarian system with all the paraphernalia of democracy and, as could be expected, an India-compliant state.
In the context of the above, when someone asked Chakravarty during the book launch whether the absence of the opposition in the election had not challenged its legitimacy, he answered, 'If the opposition does not participate in the election, it does not negate the winner, the Awami League... and it is not fair to blame the winning party', while carefully avoiding the context that dissuaded the opposition from participating.
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's behind-the-scenes role during the critical military transition government of Bangladesh's pre-2009 election is a point of contention with opposition leaders. The group also questions Indian president (then foreign minister) Pranab Mukherjee's role in influencing the takeover by their favourite in Bangladesh, the compliant Awami League, whose leader Shiekh Hasina once publicly claimed, 'India can never pay back the favours I have given.'
The opposition parties in Bangladesh feel, and quite rightly, that thanks to the role India played via the then-Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Bangladesh has since transformed itself from a sovereign state to a virtual vassal state of India, which, among other things, has put India's interests above those of Bangladesh and shoved democracy in Bangladesh into oblivion.
People in Bangladesh are angry at India, which in recent times has given rise to a 'Boycott India' movement where people are being encouraged to stop buying Indian products, and it is working.
As a matter of fact, if Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's book has done one favour to the people of Bangladesh, it is that their suspicion that India's not-so-invisible hands have been active since 2007 and counting in manipulating and catapulting a government of their choice, which in the process has entrenched India in Bangladesh economically and politically, has been revealed adequately and eloquently.
Ghulam Suhrawardi is the publisher of the South Asia Journal.
Ghulam Suhrawardi 20 April, 2024, 00:00
Transformation: Emergence of Bangladesh and Evolution of India-Bangladesh Ties Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, 1st edn KW Publishers, 2024
PINAK Ranjan Chakravarty is a visiting fellow of the Observer Research Foundation's Regional Studies Initiative. The Research Foundation presents itself as an independent global think tank based in Delhi, India. It has branches in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata. In this regard, it is also important to mention that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group, a key ally of Modi and his sectarian BJP political party, is one of the key backers of the foundation.
Among his many important credentials, one of Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's key milestones was serving as Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh from 2007 to 2009. After Bangladesh, Chakravarty served as India's ambassador to Thailand (2010–2011). Towards the end of his diplomatic career, Chakravarty served as special secretary (public diplomacy) in Delhi before being appointed secretary (economic relations) in the MEA. He retired from service in September 2013.
Chakravarty is a regular contributor to newspapers, journals, and books.
Pinak Chakravarty served in Bangladesh at a crucial time when several dramatic events took place. It was an election year when the country witnessed a de facto military coup and takeover in the guise of a caretaker government. Many argue, and not without justification, that Chakravarty and the country that he represented did not have a cosy relationship with the departing BNP and might have played on behalf of his government in the takeover and the inner workings of the transitional military government.
The then foreign minister and later India's president, Pranab Mukherjee, stated in his book The Coalition Years that he had a close relationship with the then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, and that, if Hasina returned to power, he assured the then coup leader, General Moyeen U Ahmed, the Bangladesh army chief and leader of the coup who initially took both Begum Khaleda Zia, the departing prime minister, and Shiekh Hasina on corruption charges, that he would ensure no harm is done to the chief.
The 2008 election, which several observers had claimed was 'free but not fair,' brought Sheikh Hasina to power in 2009 and has remained in power ever since. Three more elections have followed since 2009, all of which were rigged, and many suspect with Indian help.
This is the backdrop of Pinak Chakravarty's presence and the role he might have played then, as the high commissioner of India in Bangladesh, at a time when Pranab Mukherjee was India's foreign minister who, by his own admission, played a key role in the internal affairs of Bangladesh at the time. This makes Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's book, Transformation: Emergence of Bangladesh and Evolution of India-Bangladesh Ties, an interesting, if not curious, read.
In his book, Chakravarty summarised the domestic development in Bangladesh and its impact on bilateral ties. He traces the history of Bengal, the partition, and the birth of Bangladesh as a new nation in the subcontinent. He also discussed the political turmoil that ensued with the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of the independent nation. Mujib inspired the liberation struggle and is popularly called Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal), who is also the father of the nation.
The book covers the period he served as the high commissioner of India in Bangladesh, 2007–2009, when Bangladesh was embroiled in a number of crises, including political intervention by the military, the conflict between secularism and Islamist nationalism (this coincided with west-initiated Islamophobia), the ethnic separatist Chakma revolt in the south-east of Bangladesh, and communal tensions, risking Bangladesh's democratic journey and sustaining the amazing economic recovery that Bangladesh had by then achieved and was transforming itself from an 'international basket case' to a miracle economy.
The book duly acknowledges these political and economic dynamics and discusses the complex India-Bangladesh relations at great length. In particular, the book pays glowing tribute to prime minister Sheikh Hasina's remarkable contributions to transforming and strengthening Bangladesh-India relations, arguing that with yet another five-year term (thanks to rigged elections and India's blessings she has already served three terms since 2009), she will guide and cement further Bangladesh's future policies and ties with India. The book's twelve chapters mainly delve into India's interests and perspectives on India-Bangladesh ties.
The book was launched on March 28, 2024, at the meeting room of the Observer Research Foundation, which included an interactive session in which several speakers, including the former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, Shahidul Haque, participated.
While recounting his own experiences in Bangladesh and the vital role India played in shaping the politics of Bangladesh, Chakravarty explains how these Indian interventions that occurred during 2007–2009 and secured and entrenched the Hasina government that served India's interests are paying dividends even now. For example, Chakravarty elaborated on how India's intervention in Bangladesh's most recent elections, held on January 7, 2024, staved off America's insistence on and demand for free and fair elections. Indeed, thanks to India's forceful intervention, the overactive US ambassador Peter Hass, who enthusiastically canvassed for a free and fair election and supported, albeit indirectly, the opposition's demand for a non-party caretaker government to hold elections, was eventually subdued and silenced, and his and the opposition's demand for a caretaker government was never met.
The January 7, 2024, elections were held under the supervision of the government, and the opposition boycotted the election with the result that the ruling party has 'won' yet another election as they have since 2009, turning Bangladesh into a virtual one-party authoritarian system with all the paraphernalia of democracy and, as could be expected, an India-compliant state.
In the context of the above, when someone asked Chakravarty during the book launch whether the absence of the opposition in the election had not challenged its legitimacy, he answered, 'If the opposition does not participate in the election, it does not negate the winner, the Awami League... and it is not fair to blame the winning party', while carefully avoiding the context that dissuaded the opposition from participating.
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's behind-the-scenes role during the critical military transition government of Bangladesh's pre-2009 election is a point of contention with opposition leaders. The group also questions Indian president (then foreign minister) Pranab Mukherjee's role in influencing the takeover by their favourite in Bangladesh, the compliant Awami League, whose leader Shiekh Hasina once publicly claimed, 'India can never pay back the favours I have given.'
The opposition parties in Bangladesh feel, and quite rightly, that thanks to the role India played via the then-Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Bangladesh has since transformed itself from a sovereign state to a virtual vassal state of India, which, among other things, has put India's interests above those of Bangladesh and shoved democracy in Bangladesh into oblivion.
People in Bangladesh are angry at India, which in recent times has given rise to a 'Boycott India' movement where people are being encouraged to stop buying Indian products, and it is working.
As a matter of fact, if Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty's book has done one favour to the people of Bangladesh, it is that their suspicion that India's not-so-invisible hands have been active since 2007 and counting in manipulating and catapulting a government of their choice, which in the process has entrenched India in Bangladesh economically and politically, has been revealed adequately and eloquently.
Ghulam Suhrawardi is the publisher of the South Asia Journal.
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Kwatra's visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral ties: Indian Govt
UNB
Published :
May 09, 2024 20:45
Updated :
May 09, 2024 20:45
India has said its Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra's just concluded visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral ties and impart momentum to the cooperation in diverse areas.
"Bangladesh is India's leading development partner and its largest trade partner in the region," said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.
The Foreign Secretary paid an official visit to Bangladesh from May 8-9.
This was the first official visit to Bangladesh after the formation of the new government in January 2024.
During the visit, Foreign Secretary called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud.
He also met his counterpart Masud Bin Momen.
The visit to Bangladesh is keeping in line with the highest priority accorded to India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy.
During the visit, the Foreign Secretary reviewed the wide-ranging bilateral relationship including political and security, water, trade and investment, power and energy, defence, connectivity and sub-regional cooperation.
UNB
Published :
May 09, 2024 20:45
Updated :
May 09, 2024 20:45
India has said its Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra's just concluded visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral ties and impart momentum to the cooperation in diverse areas.
"Bangladesh is India's leading development partner and its largest trade partner in the region," said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.
The Foreign Secretary paid an official visit to Bangladesh from May 8-9.
This was the first official visit to Bangladesh after the formation of the new government in January 2024.
During the visit, Foreign Secretary called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud.
He also met his counterpart Masud Bin Momen.
The visit to Bangladesh is keeping in line with the highest priority accorded to India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy.
During the visit, the Foreign Secretary reviewed the wide-ranging bilateral relationship including political and security, water, trade and investment, power and energy, defence, connectivity and sub-regional cooperation.
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- Jan 24, 2024
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New Delhi's foreign policy has evolved from the Cold War to the present day. India is aiming to maintain its position as a regional leader in South Asia despite challenges from external influences and its own errors. But increasing Chinese influence and tensions caused by mishandled political developments have strained New Delhi's ties with its neighbours. The need for New Delhi is to respect its neighbours, combat hyper-nationalism and focus on leading, rather than policing, the region.
eastasiaforum.org
India’s regional challenges | East Asia Forum
New Delhi must improve its ties with South Asian neighbours to maintain its role as a key player in the region.
eastasiaforum.org
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I guess some feathers finally started getting ruffled ? 😉
Or is it their typical MoFA over-reaction in New Delhi?
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It is clearly an over reaction in New Delhi. Bangladesh and China are going to conduct an anti terrorism drill which is not detrimental to India's national security.
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India making efforts to keep Bangladesh under control: Fakhrul
India's continuous efforts to control Bangladesh instead of resolving water-sharing issues with its neighbours have been criticized by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who accused the current regime of failing to stand up for the people's interests.
en.prothomalo.com
India making efforts to keep Bangladesh under control: Fakhrul
UNB
Published: 16 May 2024, 21: 14
Mirza Fakhrul Islam AlamgirFile photo
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that neighbouring India has been continuously making efforts to keep Bangladesh under its control instead of resolving the pressing issue of water-sharing of common trans-border rivers.
Speaking at a discussion meeting on Farakka Long March Day, he also criticised the Awami League government for its failure to take action in resolving the water problem with India, stating that the current regime has been in power solely to secure the interests of its foreign master.
"We see that our neighbour (India) has always been carrying out all their activities to keep Bangladesh under control, since its birth. Not only the Farakka dam, not the Ganga water, but they have always been negligent in the water distribution of 154 common rivers. They're not resolving the problem," Fakhrul said.
He mentioned that the current Awami League government has long been buying time, promising the country's people to ink the Teesta water-sharing deal without success.
"The root cause of this failure lies in the fact that this is completely a subservient regime. It has consistently failed to take a stand in favour of the people's interests as they are extremely feeble in dealing with India."
Bhasani Anusari Parishad arranged the programme at the National Press Club, marking the historic 'Farakka Long-March Day', commemorating populist leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani's long march towards the Farakka Dam 48 years ago.
On 16 May, 1976, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani led a massive long march from Rajshahi towards India's Farakka barrage, demanding the demolition of the barrage constructed by the Indian government to divert the flow of Ganges water inside its territory.
Fakhrul said the current government's only job is to protect their own interests and those of their masters by repressing the country's people since it usurped power through a unilateral election.
'How will they (AL govt) resolve the problems of the Teesta and Farakka? How will they resolve the water-sharing problem of other common rivers? Because they captured power with special assignments (by others)," he observed.
In such a situation, the BNP leader said the people of Bangladesh must stand on their own feet to restore their lost democratic rights.
He said the BNP and many other opposition parties have been carrying out struggles for the restoration of the democratic rights of people. "For this, many of us have sacrificed our lives and many of us have to endure oppression and persecution."
Fakhrul also said there is now no alternative path to waging a united movement by all opposition parties rising above division and misunderstanding among them for ousting the current monstrous regime.
"We must move forward in unison in our own interests to reach our desired goal. No one will do it for us; we have to do it ourselves."
He said the government jailed BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia by implicating her in false cases and filed cases against 60 lakh leaders and activists of the party to hang onto power. "Oppression and arrests are still ongoing...our leaders and activists are being convicted and sent to jail."
The BNP leader said the Awami League has retained power by manipulating elections through various tactics as it knows it will face a massive debacle in a free, fair and credible election.
UNB
Published: 16 May 2024, 21: 14
Mirza Fakhrul Islam AlamgirFile photo
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that neighbouring India has been continuously making efforts to keep Bangladesh under its control instead of resolving the pressing issue of water-sharing of common trans-border rivers.
Speaking at a discussion meeting on Farakka Long March Day, he also criticised the Awami League government for its failure to take action in resolving the water problem with India, stating that the current regime has been in power solely to secure the interests of its foreign master.
"We see that our neighbour (India) has always been carrying out all their activities to keep Bangladesh under control, since its birth. Not only the Farakka dam, not the Ganga water, but they have always been negligent in the water distribution of 154 common rivers. They're not resolving the problem," Fakhrul said.
He mentioned that the current Awami League government has long been buying time, promising the country's people to ink the Teesta water-sharing deal without success.
"The root cause of this failure lies in the fact that this is completely a subservient regime. It has consistently failed to take a stand in favour of the people's interests as they are extremely feeble in dealing with India."
Bhasani Anusari Parishad arranged the programme at the National Press Club, marking the historic 'Farakka Long-March Day', commemorating populist leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani's long march towards the Farakka Dam 48 years ago.
On 16 May, 1976, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani led a massive long march from Rajshahi towards India's Farakka barrage, demanding the demolition of the barrage constructed by the Indian government to divert the flow of Ganges water inside its territory.
Fakhrul said the current government's only job is to protect their own interests and those of their masters by repressing the country's people since it usurped power through a unilateral election.
'How will they (AL govt) resolve the problems of the Teesta and Farakka? How will they resolve the water-sharing problem of other common rivers? Because they captured power with special assignments (by others)," he observed.
In such a situation, the BNP leader said the people of Bangladesh must stand on their own feet to restore their lost democratic rights.
He said the BNP and many other opposition parties have been carrying out struggles for the restoration of the democratic rights of people. "For this, many of us have sacrificed our lives and many of us have to endure oppression and persecution."
Fakhrul also said there is now no alternative path to waging a united movement by all opposition parties rising above division and misunderstanding among them for ousting the current monstrous regime.
"We must move forward in unison in our own interests to reach our desired goal. No one will do it for us; we have to do it ourselves."
He said the government jailed BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia by implicating her in false cases and filed cases against 60 lakh leaders and activists of the party to hang onto power. "Oppression and arrests are still ongoing...our leaders and activists are being convicted and sent to jail."
The BNP leader said the Awami League has retained power by manipulating elections through various tactics as it knows it will face a massive debacle in a free, fair and credible election.
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