Editorial
Pranab Mukherjee's productive visit
New doors open for Bangladesh-India cooperation
A good degree of significance was attached to the just-concluded visit to Dhaka by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. It has been lived up to by the fact that two agreements were signed by India and Bangladesh during the minister's visit. Of course, one of the two deals is basically a renewal of an old one. It is, however, the new agreement, the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Bipa), which can be considered as a distinctly forward-looking move in relations between the two countries. The benefits that will accrue from the deal will be of a mutual nature. But what is certainly important from Bangladesh's perspective is that Bipa allows Dhaka to invest in the Indian market, particularly in the northeast of that country. For a nation that has for years been endeavouring to have its goods gain a market in India, Bipa should make a difference. Besides, Bangladesh's need to have India cutback on the negative list involving Dhaka's exportable goods to Delhi may finally be met, hopefully a good part of the way. The reality is that from here on, India and Bangladesh will enjoy Most Favoured Nation relations with each other. That is surely a good augury.
Add to that the fact that the Indian minister's visit has now made it possible for the two countries to have their goods pass through each other's territory to their ultimate destinations. For Bangladesh, its trade dealings with Nepal and Bhutan will now be facilitated through Indian territory. Having said that, there are the other substantive issues that Mr. Mukherjee touched upon with the Bangladesh government. The deliberations on security are reflective of the common approach that Dhaka and Delhi could adopt, in their mutual interest, in the coming days. With security concerns being a matter of common concern, the two countries will need to follow through on the talks the Indian minister has had here with his Bangladesh counterpart and others. And with security comes the question of border management. The various incidents involving India's BSF and Bangladesh's BDR in recent times are a hint of the distance the two countries yet need to bridge in order to build confidence between themselves. In this regard, it may be pointed out that a few kilometers of the undemarcated Indo-Bangladesh border should be delimited sooner rather than later.
Overall, Pranab Mukherjee's visit opens up new areas of cooperation between India and Bangladesh. The cordiality with which he was received as well as the seriousness with which the two agreements were penned is indicative of other avenues of cooperation between the two countries in the times ahead.
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