Tension on the border

Unlike Pakistan and China, we do not even have a history of hostility with India -- indeed our two countries have considered one another friends and allies since independence, and this is what makes the present situation specially distressing.

No less distressing is the fact that the current tension appears to centre on apparently petty matters that one would have thought could easily have been resolved in an amicable manner.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Instead, the tension, which began with the skirmish on Saturday that left an assistant commander of the BSF and a ten year old Bangladeshi girl dead, seems only to have increased in the past few days.

The Indian external affairs ministry has registered a strongly worded protest with the acting Bangladesh High Commissioner, and noted that 'repercussions' cannot be ruled out. This not-so-veiled threat indicates the seriousness the Indians are attaching to this incident which should not be lost on us.

Nor has the response been only verbal. There has also been a massive build up of troops on both sides of the border, which is in itself worrisome. Subsequently, there has been a panicked exodus from the border region to safer areas, and border trade has reportedly ground to a virtual halt, damaging the economy of both countries.

This resumption of hostilities comes shortly after a DG level meeting of the BDR and BSF on the subject of border fencing. Assurances were reached to maintain peace and quiet, but the talks eventually fizzled out over the issue of India building structures within 150 yards of the border, in contravention of the 1974 agreement between the two countries.

In the past few days there have apparently been telephone talks at the ministerial level, which is a good sign. However, the tension does not seem to have been defused, and this indicates that the mechanisms we have in place are insufficient or not working properly.

Perhaps the time has come for intercession from authorities higher than those in communication so far in both countries. The relationship between India and Bangladesh is too important to permit the continuance of this level of hostility.