Of sellout and secret deals
APART from the intense debate that the PM's visit has engendered in the country, some informed some uninformed, it has had one positive impact on the opposition. At least they have been provoked to express their intent to attend the current session of the Parliament.
It is just as well. Given the accusations of sellout and secret deal, which are being made against the government, outside the floor of the house those count for very little. In the Parliament, one would hope, we will get the benefit of a debate that will be informed and rational, backed by logic and statistics, not subterfuge and rhetoric.
The battle of words is confusing the public. And with the media clearly divided on the issue, newer elements, introduced by way of news, are adding to the confusion. While there is every justification to critique actions of the government, particularly when those relate to our relationship with neighbours, callow journalese leads to dilution of the gravity of the issues.
The role of some section of the media only proves what Oscar Wilde had said, that there is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.
To start with, I for one have been rather confused by the issue that relates to the use of the two ports by India and associating that with our national security. To it has been added another new element; that of a secret deal alleged to have been inked by Sheikh Hasina with India.
Allowing another country to use one's ports is nothing unique and one does not hear about special agreements with others for allowing their ships to call at one's port. However, with India the matter assumes a different tenor. It means that India will transport goods to and from these ports to wherever it wants to inside and outside India. And this is what raises the hackles of some of the critics of the policy, because that amounts to giving transit facility to India.
And they are also unwilling to see the matter in exclusively economic terms. They suggest that the policy would, apart from causing Bangladesh to lose the "captive" market in the Indian North East, also involve it with the ongoing insurgency in that area, because through these ports India might move the accoutrements of war to the North East to combat the insurgents.
While we will deal with this separately at a later date, suffice it to say that the concerns are being highly exaggerated. Anyone with the basic knowledge of military logistics would know that there are far better options of moving war materiel than through a third country, however friendly.
In so far as transit is concerned, India already has the facility of inland water transit, and that has not affected the security of Bangladesh in any way. I am sure that all the river vessels that ply the riverine routes between India and Bangladesh are put through all the inspection procedures after entering and before leaving our territory.
The issue of surface connectivity between the two countries had been an agreed matter since 1972. The Indo-Bangladesh Trade Agreement on March 28, 1972, (Article V of the Agreement) provided for "mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways, railways and roadways for commerce between the two countries and for passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other."
While the 1972 agreement was for one year, a new trade agreement, which was signed on October 4, 1980, had similar proviso for surface connectivity. Allowing Bangladesh transit to Nepal is not a new concession either because, in the comment at the 1972 signing ceremony, the Indian foreign trade minister had said: "We, on our part, would be only too happy to provide the necessary transit facilities to Nepal and our friends in Bangladesh."
As for the secret deal, we would call upon anyone with knowledge of such a deal to make that public. The leader of the opposition repeated what appeared in a Bangla daily regarding an agreement for exchange of intelligence between the two countries. Sharing of information and intelligence is something not new either. In fact, the 1987 Regional Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism calls for greater regional cooperation on legal issues, including evidence sharing and exchange of information and expertise.
The issues of the ports and transit have two very distinct aspects. One is related to trade, commerce and economics and the other with the so-called security. It is also a reality that these are our assets that give us strategic leverage in dealing with other countries. The strategic card must be played prudently so that we can maximise our strategic advantage and the benefits that are linked to it, and it is only after details of implementation of the understandings between Bangladesh and India are worked that out would one be able to say whether that is the case or not.
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