PM Narendra Modi On Two-day Bangladesh Visit From June 6

[Srinivas_K]

PM Narendra Modi on two-day Bangladesh visit from June 6

DHAKA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-day state visit to Bangladesh from June 6 to further bolster bilateral ties, the Bangladesh foreign ministry here said on Tuesday.

Modi would make his maiden visit to Bangladesh after being invited by his counterpart Sheikh Hasina following his election last year, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The visit is expected to further strengthen the excellent relationship between the two countries," it said.

The statement said the two premiers would hold talks to review the "entire gamut of bilateral relations" while Modi will also make a courtesy call on President Abdul Hamid.

READ ALSO: Modi to visit Dhaka with Teesta water deal on table

The statement came hours after Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran joined a meeting with Bangladesh officials at the foreign ministry to finalize the protocols and other issues related to the visit.

Officials familiar with the meeting said besides the talks with Hasina and Hamid, Modi would join a function at premier Dhaka University, deliver a public lecture at Bangabandhu International Conference Hall in the capital and visit the National Memorial at suburban Savar to pay tributes to martyrs of 1971 Liberation War.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...sh-visit-from-June-6/articleshow/47431039.cms

 

[brational]

Since GoI has approved the Land Boundary Agreement, Modi must take up the illegal migrant issue with his Bangladeshi counterpart. We are facing growing threats from the bd miscreants. Time to send them back by boat(in case bangladesh refuses to accept them).

 

[tarunraju]

Didn't a prophesier tell Modi never to visit a Muslim-majority nation?

 

[rockey 71]

Modi’s busy Dhaka schedule

Diplomatic Correspondent



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his around 36-hour visit to Bangladesh on June 6-7 will meet top political leaders, ministers, businessmen and other people.



As per the draft programme schedule, Modi will arrive in Dhaka by a special flight on June 6 around 11:00am. The Indian leader will be accompanied by a large official delegation, including the external affairs minister, finance minister, commerce minister, shipping minister, transport minister and national security adviser.



Speculation is high that the chief ministers of Bangladesh’s bordering Indian states would join Modi on the trip.



Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will receive her Indian counterpart at the VVIP terminal of Shahjalal International Airport.



Two tiny tots will present floral bouquets to the Indian PM. He will be greeted with a 19-gun salute and a guard of honour.



From the airport, the Indian premier will go to the National Memorial in Savar to lay a wreath. He will plant a sapling and sign the visitors’ book there.



He will then travel to Pan Pacific Hotel Sonargaon where he will be staying during his stay in the capital.



Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Finance Minister AMA Muhith will separately call on Modi at the hotel in the afternoon of June 6.



The Indian PM will then go to the Prime Minister’s Office to join the crucial official talks with Sheikh Hasina on the whole range of issues.



The talks will be followed by signing of around a dozen of agreements, protocols and MoUs. The two leaders are likely to make a media statement.



Modi will attend a state banquet to be hosted by the Bangladesh PM in his honour at hotel Sonargaon.



Dhaka will honour former Indian premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his outstanding contributions to Bangladesh’s Liberation War. Modi will receive an award on behalf of Vajpayee.



On June 7, Modi is expected to address a meeting either at Dhaka University or at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on India-Bangladesh ties.



Modi will call on President Abdul Hamid at the Bangabhaban. He will then visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi to place a wreath at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.



Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and some other political leaders are likely to meet the Indian PM separately.



Modi will leave Dhaka for New Delhi in the evening.





http://www.thedailys...-schedule-88186

 

[Ancient Indian]

Didn't a prophesier tell Modi never to visit a Muslim-majority nation?

That is why he is taking his terrorist girlfriend with him.

No body missed their flirting episode in last general election.

 

[rockey 71]

Mission to Dhaka
Editor | Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Share0 Tweet1 Share0 0 Share6


West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh. She had refused to do so when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Dhaka. The discord was over the Teesta water-sharing agreement. This time Parliament has passed a Constitutional amendment bill on the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. 161 enclaves held by both sides will be exchanged. The Teesta treaty and the LBA may be signed during the current visit. This time Mamata Banerjee has avoided a confrontation with the Centre as she needs a financial package from it for her state. She had herself gone to Dhaka in February. An agreement with Bangladesh on the disputed issues is necessary to tackle two problems. First, Dhaka should be persuaded to extradite Northeastern insurgents sheltering in Bangladesh. Second, illegal immigration from Bangladesh has to be checked. To smoothe ruffled feathers in West Bengal, however, Mamata Banerjee said that she was not going to Dhaka to relent on the Teesta issue.

What is most intriguing is that the CPI (M) has shown some initiative in the matter although it has been reduced to a skeletal presence in Parliament and outside. CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri was in Bangladesh recently and met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina had lauded the ratification of the LBA in the Indian Parliament where the CPI(M) was at the forefront of those backing the exchange of enclaves. Yechuri hoped that outstanding issues between India and Bangladesh would be resolved during Narendra Modi’s visit. Yechuri’s attitude showed the CPI (M)’s spirit of cooperation on a visit led by the BJP and the Trinamul Congress.


Read more at http://www.theshillongtimes.com/2015/06/02/mission-to-dhaka/#gerYXh5luEl4tl6M.99

 

[rockey 71]

Jamaat hails Modi's visit


Staff Correspondent
The Jamaat-e-Islami last night welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ensuing visit to Dhaka.

The Indian premier is due in the capital on Saturday on a two-day official visit.

Acting Jamaat ameer Mokbul Ahmad in a statement said, “I welcome the visit whole-heartedly.”

He expressed optimism that the existing disputes between the two countries would be resolved and the friendly bilateral relations would be strengthened through this visit.

The trade and economic ties between the two countries will grow deeper, he added.

The people of Bangladeshi hope that they will get their due share of the Teesta water. Besides, it is also expected that the Indian government will take steps to stop the construction of the Tipaimukh dam and to end killing of Bangladeshis along the border by the Border Security Force, said the statement.

 

[anupamsurey]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...is-twoday-bangladesh-visit/article7286042.ece
Several welcome arches with cut-outs of Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina added to the festival-like atmosphere.
Bangladesh is all set to roll out a red carpet welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will arrive in Dhaka on Saturday on his maiden visit to the country, amid expectations on both sides to take bilateral ties to a new level and unleash the potential of economic and trade ties.

Ahead of Mr. Modi’s two-day visit, the capital city Dhaka is having a festive look with streets adorned with life-size cut-outs of Mr. Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Ms. Banerjee will arrive in Dhaka on Friday night and will take part in the flag off ceremony of Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service and signing of the LBA agreement.

Large cut-outs of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were also seen on the streets as a token of an age old relationship between both the two countries and India’s role in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

“We are really overwhelmed by Prime Minister Modi’s visit. We believe that the signing of LBA and Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service will open new avenues and strengthen the bilateral ties,” Awami League MP Md Monirul Islam told PTI.

Mr. Islam said strong bilateral ties will also help in fighting the menace of terrorism and fundamentalism.

“We can never forget the role that India had played during our liberation war. We, the Awami League government, always want friendly relations with the Indian government.

India is the biggest friend of Bangladesh. The Friendship between Narendra Modi government and Sheikh Hasina Government along with our Mamataji will help us to evolve as power,” another Awami League MP Sk Afil Udin said.

Writer and noted social activist Shariyar Kabir said, “It is not only a historic day for Bangladesh but also a milestone in Indo-Bangla relations. Both the countries especially two Bengals don’t have any difference in culture, language and heritage. We are happy that this long standing issue of LBA is being solved.”

A West Bengal delegation, which entered Bangladesh on Thursday night through road, was given a rousing welcome at every checkpoint with public representatives and with hundreds of local people and children lined along the route to cheer the delegation, waving flags of both the countries.

Several welcome arches with cut-outs of Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina added to the festival-like atmosphere.

One arch proclaimed: ‘Bangladesh takes pleasure welcoming our close friend Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’

Another was dedicated to ‘Bangladesh and India — a shining testimony of bilateral relations’ Another arch said, ‘Long Live Sheikh Hasina, Narendra Modi’.

Enhancing rail, road and water connectivity, boosting economic engagement and expanding security cooperation are likely to be major focus areas during Mr. Modi’s visit. Both sides are likely to sign a number of deals including on enhancing connectivity to ensure greater people-to-people contact.

Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina are set to flag-off the bus service between Kolkata and Agartala via Dhaka and the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati bus service. The two countries are keen to strengthen railway connectivity, particularly to revive railway links which were in existence prior to 1965.

The two countries are set to sign a coastal shipping agreement to facilitate sailing of small vessels from India to various ports in Bangladesh which now go through Singapore.

India will also push for involvement of Indian companies in setting up of ports in that country.

The issue of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement is also likely to figure in the talks Modi will have with Hasina. The agreement, minus Pakistan, is likely to be signed soon.

India feels improving connectivity with Bangladesh will help linking the Northeastern region with Southeast Asia.

 

[anupamsurey]

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/xx...-to-ending-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-bor.html

New Delhi: While India and Bangladesh share one of the world’s longest land borders, crossing it isn’t easy.
Cargo trucks drive hundreds of kilometres through a choke point known as the Chicken’s Neck to circumvent Bangladesh and reach India’s isolated northeast states. Shipping containers can make detours as far as Singapore, adding weeks to delivery times, and smaller boats are barred from sailing across shared waterways.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visits Bangladesh on Saturday, is close to tearing down those barriers. Ending a border dispute that pre-dates Bangladesh’s founding in 1971 would help bilateral trade surge and counter China’s growing influence in India’s eastern neighbourhood.
“It’s a transformative moment,” said Alyssa Ayres, a former US state department official now at the council on foreign relations. “Having a border that is no longer contested on the eastern front relieves India of having one whole array of problems. It’ll be great for both economies.”
The 4,100 kilometre continuous land border, the world’s fifth longest, is strewn with islets of territory completely encircled by the other nation, sometimes several times over. The estimated 200,000 people residing in those can cross two international boundaries just to reach a school or hospital—all while trying to avoid armed border guards.
Modi has sought to end that historical anomaly. A bill that would allow the countries to swap pockets of land passed in the Rajya Sabha last month, and now needs sign-off from the Lok Sabha controlled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling party, which faces no parliamentary opposition, backs the deal.
Unlocking rivers
During Modi’s two-day trip, the nations will also sign a coastal shipping deal to reduce sea transit times and costs, according to Bangladesh cabinet secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. They’ll also unlock inland rivers that crisscross the countries, said Sarveen Narula, director of liner and passenger services at the state-run Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.
“With this agreement, a lot of those trucks would get off the road,” Narula said, adding that it would pave the way for more agreements. “It could be akin to what you have between the US and Canada, where you can navigate freely.”
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) estimates that the moves may boost formal two-way trade by almost half to $10 billion by 2018. While the data fail to capture an extensive amount of informal commerce, the official trade now is one way: Bangladesh imports (pulses, rice and cotton) about 13 times more from India than it exports (mostly garments).
Countering China
One reason pushing Modi toward improved ties is China, Bangladesh’s top formal trade partner and biggest military supplier. Hasina in 2010 called China the “most dependable and consistent friend of Bangladesh.”
Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Co. is building a container terminal at Chittagong port, which facilitates more than 90% of Bangladesh’s imports and exports. Hasina has elicited China’s support for other projects, including a tunnel that would connect Bangladesh’s main transport artery to a proposed Southeast Asian mega-highway.
Jai Kumar Verma, a former director in India’s cabinet secretariat, said Modi’s visit to Bangladesh would help stabilize a relationship he called “a roller coaster.”
“India is concerned about the rising interest of China,” he said. “Bangladesh is strategically located, and it can be a gateway to trade to Southeast Asia.”

 

[anupamsurey]

The issue of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement is also likely to figure in the talks Modi will have with Hasina. The agreement, minus Pakistan, is likely to be signed soon.

during the 2014 saarc sumimit, it was proposed to have a SAARC roadway (to improve connectivity and to counter chinese), Pakis PM ganja Sharif, put a road block to this project proposed by our PM, and pakis in this forum were rejoicing.
my idea came to full conclusion- Pakistan was warned to either be a part of this project or get sidelined (because it is then India decided to pursue this project bilaterally with Nepal, Bhutan, and bangladesh), so it is becoming true. once agai loser pakis get "thenga" from India.

 

[prohumanity]

India-Bangla Desh friendship is getting deeper and both are on the path of economic growth and well-being of their citizens. I would like you to ponder on these questions to get some real insight....
(1) Why likes of BBC, CNN, the economists and other Angloid media was vehemently against BJP and esp. PM Modi before the General Election in 2014 ?
(2) Why the same forces tried to obstruct Prez. Mrs. Sheikh Hasina from winning the election in BD and trying to help Islamist Mrs. Khaled Zia ?
(3) Who are those forces who have trouble with India-Bangla Desh getting more friendly with each other ?
If you look at these points with open mind...that will help you understand real geo-politics being played in Indian Subcontinent.

 

[rockey 71]

Subject:By Taj Hashmi ( Modi's visit )

This is what I wrote for Daily Star, and they did not publish it. I don't think they will ever publish it as they all have high expectations from the Butcher of Gujarat.
Do you think I am right in my assessment of the Modi-Mania in Bangladesh? Indian newspapers (June 6) have not given any indication about Teesta. They have only mentioned Transit, LBA and development of tourism and "Bangladeshis' illegal entry" into India as issues to be discussed in Dhaka. But (I think) Bangladeshi media and intellectuals are unnecessarily hoping against hope.
=====================
Modi visits Bangladesh, but Teesta is not even in the agenda
Taj Hashmi
Last time I met my old friend Gowher Rizvi at his office in December 2011, he was very upbeat and optimistic about the “impending” Teesta water sharing agreement with India. He seemed to have reposed absolute trust in what Manmohan Singh – a fellow Oxford alumnus – had promised him in this regard. Although I was still a bit skeptic about the deal, I brushed aside my skepticism momentarily, thinking the Oxford Old Boy camaraderie might have worked to the advantage of Bangladesh.
However, Manmohan Singh simply did not keep his word because of some not-so-convincing “Mamata Banerjee Factor”. Consequently, as Bangladesh was disappointed, so I believe was Gowher crest-fallen and disillusioned. Now, it is irrelevant if I believe erudite, honest, and sincere people have no place in the arena of politics, especially in South Asia, where competence, hard work, and honesty hardly pay off.
Despite the recent ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh by the Indian Parliament under Modi, there is nothing to celebrate about what Bangladesh has so far got from India, and what it had to give to India in return. I have reasons to believe Modi does not enjoy a good reputation in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. To tell the least, Modi’s image – along with that of his rightist Hindu party – is problematic, especially in the backdrop of the Gujarat killings of 2002. At least 2,000 Muslims got killed in the three-day long state-sponsored rioting in the province while Modi was the Chief Minister. The 2003 International Report by the US State Department is quite unambiguous about his role in the pogrom.
If we learn anything from history, then we know India has never been nice and benign to its smaller neighbours. However, India plays a different ball game with Pakistan. And we know the ground reality. What India gets away with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, cannot think of doing to Pakistan.
In the wake of India’s signing the World Bank brokered Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in 1960, India fought two wars against Pakistan (1965 and 1971) but has not scrapped the Treaty. The countries over the years have amicably settled their disagreements over the Treaty. One of the most successful water sharing endeavors in the world, the Treaty is about sharing waters of six rivers in the Indus River System that includes the Indus, Jhelum, Chenub, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. Interestingly, India and Pakistan exchange data and co-operate with each other in matters related to the Treaty; and have created the Permanent Indus Commission, with a commissioner appointed by the countries.
As there was nothing substantial for Bangladesh in Manmohan Singh’s hyperbole, so is there nothing substantial in Narendra Modi’s basket to be happy about by Bangladesh. India’s empty promises and lame excuses have taught the resolute nation of Bangladesh what to expect from India, and how to live with the mighty neighbour, who has never been a gentle giant across the border. This, however, does not bode well for good neighbourly relationship between India and Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Government is least likely to get much political dividends at the home front by self-praise or extolling the virtues of the Modi Government for signing the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between the two countries. The LBA was overdue. The Indian Parliament should have ratified it in 1974. So, there is nothing to go gaga about it by anybody, especially by the Bangladesh Government, which had no role to play in the belated ratification of the Agreement.
Had the Awami Government got any clout in New Delhi, all major issues between the two countries, including Teesta, Farakka and Tipaimukh Dam, would have been resolved by now. It seems even the Bangladesh Government – not people in the country – has forgotten about the monster of Farakka, which has turned northwestern Bangladesh into a semi-desert. Although Modi has compared the signing of the LBA with the fall of the Berlin Wall, India has not done any favour to Bangladesh by signing the Agreement, which is not something that happened out of the way.
Meanwhile India has erected the longest barbed wire fence in the world across the Indo-Bangladesh border. More than 70 per cent of the 4,096 kilometer long border has been fenced by eight-foot tall barbed wire to prevent illegal migrants, smugglers and drug traffickers. The fence is much longer than the now demolished Berlin Wall and the Israeli built wall across the occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
It is time for Bangladesh to understand while Teesta and Tipaimukh are the proverbial sticks, Farakka a death warrant, the LBA is the carrot for Bangladesh. It is a means towards an end, albeit for India’s benefit alone. Although Modi is coming empty handed to Bangladesh, he is not returning empty handed at all. He will get transit facilities and virtually the corridor to link New Delhi with India’s turbulent Northeast through Bangladesh.
One is not sure what to read in India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent statement that India would not sign the Teesta water sharing agreement with Dhaka during Modi’s trip. She told reporters that the countries had “not reached an understanding” on the agreement, and that Mamata Banerjee would be travelling to Dhaka along with the Prime Minister to discuss other bilateral issues, including the LBA, Transit etc. We hear enhancing rail, road and water connectivity, strengthening economic ties and security cooperation as the major issues between India and Bangladesh, not Teesta, Farakka or Tipaimukh.
Nobody in Bangladesh – in the Government and media – raises the issue of tens of thousands of illegal Indian white-collar workers in Bangladesh, remitting more than $2 billion to India every year. I also come across op-eds, articles and comments of expert analysts in Bangladesh, which are full of wishful thinking and exuberance about what Bangladesh is going to gain from Modi’s visit. I have not yet read anything in Bangladeshi media on Modi’s recent announcement thatHindus from Bangladesh will get Indian citizenship as they are fleeing the country because of persecution.
I do not think Bangladesh is going to benefit from Modi’s visit. It is fat hope that Mamata Banerjee will play a different role vis-à-vis Teesta water sharing “the next time”. I believe irrespective of whoever is the Prime Minister, India is not going to discuss Teesta, Farakka, Tipaimukh, and other bilateral issues with Bangladesh in a meaningful manner, let alone resolving them permanently. Bangladesh’s enormous trade deficit with India will perpetuate. It is noteworthy that since 2010, while India exports goods worth $6.1 billion to Bangladesh (previously it was worth $2.7 billion), the corresponding figure for Bangladeshi export to India grew from paltry $274 million to $456 million per year.
I think it is time to appraise a) if India’s Bangladesh policy under the Hindu Nationalist Modi government is somewhat more benign and friendly than what it was under his predecessors; and b) if Bangladesh will be getting its due share of waters from the Ganges, Teesta and Barak. I have not yet seen any such sign. What I see is: Modi is not even going to discuss Teesta, let alone giving Bangladesh its due share of the waters, “this time”. One wonders, if there will ever be a “next time”!
I think Mamata Banerjee’s opposition to sharing the Teesta waters with Bangladesh is a convenient and flimsy excuse by New Delhi not to ever implement the Teesta water sharing agreement. A provincial government’s refusal to share international waters with lower riparian country is not acceptable in international law. Unless a miracle happens, Mamata Banerjee or whoever is the Chief Minister of West Bengal is not going to act positively in this regard, ever. In sum, it seems Indo-Bangladesh relationship is likely to remain on an uneven keel, indefinitely.
The writer teaches security studies at Austin Peay State University. Sage has recently published his latest book, Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

[rockey 71]

Opinion: Why Bangladesh isn’t Pakistan

MJ Akbar



This weekend we can bury a misconception that has appropriated the subcontinent’s discourse since 1947, when a Muslim League-British project partitioned the land in the name of religion. India’s problem with Pakistan has nothing to do with Pakistan’s emergence as a Muslim nation. The problem has always been, and continues to be, Pakistan’s state sponsorship of terrorism against India.



Pakistan’s initial policy of “war by other means” quickly evolved into the broader framework of “war by all means”. Ninety percent of Bangladesh is Muslim. Till 1971 it was part of Pakistan. India has a much larger border with Bangladesh than with Pakistan, with a territorial dispute since the British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe, nominated by London to demarcate lines of separation, deepened the wounds of partition by using a scalpel with an uncertain, and occasionally anarchic, hand.



This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi will sign a pact in Dhaka with his counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, that erases a dispute as old as Kashmir. The term ‘historic’ has become trite through general overuse, but this pact deserves such an accolade.



We tend to be sanguine or cynical about success, and so hypnotized by bad news that media often gets hypnotized by the negative. Moreover, major television channels have become so Delhi-centric that we forget India lives in its states. A municipal problem in the capital consumes time with the appetite of an elephant, while a game-changer in Bengal is sidelined to the margins.



We should not underestimate the Dhaka treaty. A wall that started as brick, transformed into stone and was turning concrete, is coming down. Once India and Bangladesh can put the past behind them, the east will discover a future through economic and cultural harmony.



An economy can always find its way through political boundaries, as Europe or North America or Southeast Asia have proved. But it cannot break through hostility. Economic success is always faster and, well, more economical, with cooperation.



The two Bengals and the northeast of India are natural partners in the timeless search for greater prosperity. But an equal partnership is only possible through trust and trust can only mature through experience.



This is also a major delivery axis for an important commitment made by Modi during the 2014 election campaign: the revival of the east, which has lagged behind the rest of India for a variety of reasons, of which the most important is surely the sterile, formulaic thinking of Marxists who ruled West Bengal for three and a half decades. The quality of Modi’s leadership has been evident in the quiet, but effective, way he resolved both internal and external obstacles.



Thoughtful regional icons are responding to the Prime Minister’s repeated exhortation that the people’s interest must prevail over partisan politics. That is why Mamata Banerjee will be on the plane to Dhaka. Battles are fought during elections. When over, state and Centre must cooperate to serve India.



Parties trapped in an ostrich mentality, like Congress and the Left, will lay nothing more productive than an infertile egg. Foreign policy, however, can only go as far as domestic opinion takes it. Why are Indians ready for a deal with Dhaka but wary of Islamabad?



There is, of course, a fundamental difference between Bangladesh and Pakistan in the fundamentals of the state; but esoteric reality does not get the public traction it possibly deserves. Indians are impressed by Sheikh Hasina’s visible and sustained war against terrorists. She has contained faith-based political formations, and cracked down against violence-addicted extremists.



In this respect she has altered the dynamics of Bangladesh politics, and this legacy will be hard to subvert. In contrast, terrorism remains an integral part of Islamabad’s catechism no matter who is in power.



Pakistan set the template for state-sponsored terrorism from the day it was born. In retrospect it is astonishing that its leaders were not deflected even by the human catastrophe that accompanied partition, or the economic burden of sudden birth.



Within days of entering office, Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan began plotting an illegal war to seize the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. This operation began in October 1947, and has not ended. Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif confirmed as much when he said yesterday that Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition.



The cost of such colossal irresponsibility has been extremely high, particularly for Pakistan. If Pakistan had not opted for war the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, which had not joined either India or Pakistan in August, would have been resolved across over the table, probably in the presence of Britain, since the legality of independence was determined by an act of British Parliament. Pakistan destroyed the chance of peace for generations.



Bangladesh won freedom through a war of liberation. It was not simply a geographical departure from Pakistan but also an ideological recast. This has enabled Bangladesh to pursue its national interest on the basis of different parameters. Its differences with India, where they exist, are not based on the ideological premise that Hindus and Muslims are engaged in some form of permanent war.



India and Bangladesh can — if all goes well — walk, and work, together.



[The article was first published on June 4, 2015]



The author is Editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial Director, India Today and Headlines Today.

 

[hit&run]

.........................................................

 

[Abhijat]

It is surely a great step forward, in building economical regional value chains in Subcontinent.

Maybe , we should create a separate sub-thread , in country's watch , relating to neighbors like, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as future of the Subcontinent depends on how , India government can integrate these countries in it's development , and helps them in turn , to solve various economic problems.

@Singh , @Yusuf , could you kindly , look up at the request.

 

[rockey 71]

Yep, we, BD, should have a dedicated thread.

 

[Mad Indian]

Opinion: Why Bangladesh isn’t Pakistan

MJ Akbar



This weekend we can bury a misconception that has appropriated the subcontinent’s discourse since 1947, when a Muslim League-British project partitioned the land in the name of religion. India’s problem with Pakistan has nothing to do with Pakistan’s emergence as a Muslim nation. The problem has always been, and continues to be, Pakistan’s state sponsorship of terrorism against India.



Pakistan’s initial policy of “war by other means” quickly evolved into the broader framework of “war by all means”. Ninety percent of Bangladesh is Muslim. Till 1971 it was part of Pakistan. India has a much larger border with Bangladesh than with Pakistan, with a territorial dispute since the British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe, nominated by London to demarcate lines of separation, deepened the wounds of partition by using a scalpel with an uncertain, and occasionally anarchic, hand.



This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi will sign a pact in Dhaka with his counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, that erases a dispute as old as Kashmir. The term ‘historic’ has become trite through general overuse, but this pact deserves such an accolade.



We tend to be sanguine or cynical about success, and so hypnotized by bad news that media often gets hypnotized by the negative. Moreover, major television channels have become so Delhi-centric that we forget India lives in its states. A municipal problem in the capital consumes time with the appetite of an elephant, while a game-changer in Bengal is sidelined to the margins.



We should not underestimate the Dhaka treaty. A wall that started as brick, transformed into stone and was turning concrete, is coming down. Once India and Bangladesh can put the past behind them, the east will discover a future through economic and cultural harmony.



An economy can always find its way through political boundaries, as Europe or North America or Southeast Asia have proved. But it cannot break through hostility. Economic success is always faster and, well, more economical, with cooperation.



The two Bengals and the northeast of India are natural partners in the timeless search for greater prosperity. But an equal partnership is only possible through trust and trust can only mature through experience.



This is also a major delivery axis for an important commitment made by Modi during the 2014 election campaign: the revival of the east, which has lagged behind the rest of India for a variety of reasons, of which the most important is surely the sterile, formulaic thinking of Marxists who ruled West Bengal for three and a half decades. The quality of Modi’s leadership has been evident in the quiet, but effective, way he resolved both internal and external obstacles.



Thoughtful regional icons are responding to the Prime Minister’s repeated exhortation that the people’s interest must prevail over partisan politics. That is why Mamata Banerjee will be on the plane to Dhaka. Battles are fought during elections. When over, state and Centre must cooperate to serve India.



Parties trapped in an ostrich mentality, like Congress and the Left, will lay nothing more productive than an infertile egg. Foreign policy, however, can only go as far as domestic opinion takes it. Why are Indians ready for a deal with Dhaka but wary of Islamabad?



There is, of course, a fundamental difference between Bangladesh and Pakistan in the fundamentals of the state; but esoteric reality does not get the public traction it possibly deserves. Indians are impressed by Sheikh Hasina’s visible and sustained war against terrorists. She has contained faith-based political formations, and cracked down against violence-addicted extremists.



In this respect she has altered the dynamics of Bangladesh politics, and this legacy will be hard to subvert. In contrast, terrorism remains an integral part of Islamabad’s catechism no matter who is in power.



Pakistan set the template for state-sponsored terrorism from the day it was born. In retrospect it is astonishing that its leaders were not deflected even by the human catastrophe that accompanied partition, or the economic burden of sudden birth.



Within days of entering office, Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan began plotting an illegal war to seize the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. This operation began in October 1947, and has not ended. Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif confirmed as much when he said yesterday that Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition.



The cost of such colossal irresponsibility has been extremely high, particularly for Pakistan. If Pakistan had not opted for war the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, which had not joined either India or Pakistan in August, would have been resolved across over the table, probably in the presence of Britain, since the legality of independence was determined by an act of British Parliament. Pakistan destroyed the chance of peace for generations.



Bangladesh won freedom through a war of liberation. It was not simply a geographical departure from Pakistan but also an ideological recast. This has enabled Bangladesh to pursue its national interest on the basis of different parameters. Its differences with India, where they exist, are not based on the ideological premise that Hindus and Muslims are engaged in some form of permanent war.



India and Bangladesh can — if all goes well — walk, and work, together.



[The article was first published on June 4, 2015]



The author is Editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial Director, India Today and Headlines Today.

Is there something I missed? Nowhere does it say how Bangladesh is different from Pakistan

 

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I found Bangladeshi security members guarding P.M Modi.Where was our SPG?

 

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No Teesta pact dampens Bangla media’s euphoria over Modi visit
Dwaipayan Datta,TNN | Jun 8, 2015, 04.19 AM IST
Comments
PM Modi addresses joint statement with Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina

• PM Modi receives award on Vajpayee's behalf

• PM Modi visits Dhakeshwari temple

• Sheikh Hasina welcomes PM Modi in Dhaka

• Teesta deal will happen, Mamata Banerjee assures Sheikh Hasina

KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Dhaka hogged the limelight across Bangladeshi media. While TV channels followed his every move and dissected his speeches, most newspapers dedicated their front pages and editorials to the visit.

However, amid the euphoria, the politically challenging solution to the Teesta water crisis found enough mention, with at least two papers saying they were "saddened" by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's "studied silence" on the issue.

This was evident on Saturday itself. The Daily Star's banner headline read 'Modi Flies in Today, Hopes so High' while Bengali daily Prothom Alo hailed 'A visit of High Hopes'. On Sunday, the Star headlined the visit as the 'Dawn of a New Era'. Two other issues — Modi's "confidence" in finding a Teesta solution and the news of huge investments in Bangladesh by Reliance and the Adanis — made their way to the front page.

The Daily Observer chose to look into the future. Highlighting Modi's assurance on a Teesta solution, its front-page headline read: 'India to solve Teesta, Feni river water issue: Modi'. Its website on Sunday evening had 20 news items on the visit, even highlighting how Mamata met Modi on the sidelines of the visit. Both papers splashed huge photographs of Modi, Mamata and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

Prothom Alo wrote a long editorial on the ramifications of the visit, dwelling on why it had drawn more interest than the one by former PM Manmohan Singh in 2009. It said India's Look East Policy had now changed to Act East and India's foreign policy vis-a-vis China was a major driving force in this change. 'Dhaka ready to welcome Modi, both sides upbeat; Major breakthroughs expected', said the Daily Observer. Dhaka bore a festive look with streets adorned with life-size cutouts of Modi, Mamata and Hasina; this, too, found mention in the papers.

However, there was a tinge of disappointment in the manner the Teesta problem was not proactively discussed. While the Daily Observer carried a long story on Sunday about the drastic fall in the Teesta water level and how it was affecting the environment, a Daily Star editorial ('No breakthrough in Teesta') was more direct: it said the Bengal CM's silence on the matter had hurt them, especially after her promises in February.

"Mamata Banerjee's assurance in February this year, during her last visit, that we should have faith in her on the Teesta water-sharing deal was a very positive signal for us that a seemingly intractable problem was going to be resolved at last. We are disappointed that we heard nothing from her in this regard till going to press. The resolution seems not likely soon, primarily because of Paschim Banga's politics," the paper wrote. "While Modi's confidence on Teesta is heartening, it is predicated on the support of Paschim Banga. Thus our call to Paschim Banga chief minister — rise above petty party politics for the sake of good neighbourliness."

 

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(PM Modi's speech at University of Dhaka)

Modi blames Pakistan for spreading terrorism in India
Dawn.com— Publishedabout 2 hours ago

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks after signing agreement with
BANGLADESH in DHAKA june 6 2015.

DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address at Dhaka Universityon Sundayblamed Pakistan for spreading terrorism and fear in neighbouring India, according to areport on Hindustan Times website.

"Pakistan aaye din India, jo naako dum la deta hai, terrorism ko badhawa deta hai... ki ghatnaayein ghatthi rehti hain," PM Modi said in his address to Dhaka Universityon Sunday.

(Every now and then Pakistan keeps disturbing India, creates nuisance, promotes terrorism and such incidents keep recurring.)

"Terrorism has no boundaries. India has been troubled by it for the last 40 years. So many innocent people have died and what did those associated with terrorism gain and what have they given to the world... Terrorism has no values, no principles, no traditions and it has only one motive and that is enmity against humanity," he said.

He invited Bangladesh to join hands with India to counter terrorism and create peace, while he spoke at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center in Dhaka before his departure on June 7.

"If we had a diabolic mindset, we do not know what decision we would have taken," he said, reminding the students of how India had intervened in Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war.

Modi's two day visit to Bangladesh reaffirmed the two countries "unequivocal and uncompromising position against extremism and terrorism in all forms and manifestations" declaration.

This land swap declaration also ensured that the thousands of people living near the Bangladeshi and Indian borders will be allowed to choose their nationality.

They agreed upon sharing classified information relating to any terrorist or threatening activities along the adjoining borders.

Additionally, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in collaboration with PM Modi also inaugurated a convenient bus service along the border.

Previously, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, in a shocking and radical statement, had asserted that terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists.

“India will take proactive steps to prevent a 26/11 type attack,” Press Trust of India had quoted him saying.

The adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz had expressed serious concern over the statement made by the Indian defence minister that India will use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries.

Read:Pakistan decries India's admission of involvement in cross-border terrorism

“It must be the first time that a minister of an elected government openly advocates use of terrorism in another country on the pretext of preventing terrorism from that country or its non-state actors,” the national security advise had said.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that his Indian counterpart’s statement about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism had confirmed “our assertions of Indian involvement in terrorist activities on Pakistani soil”.

He had said that Parrikar's statement was a blatant admission of sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.

Also read:Khawaja Asif slams Indian minister’s statement of ‘sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism’

“This is the worst kind of declaration by a state functionary of cabinet level which confirms that India is sponsoring terrorism against its neighbours in the name of preventing terrorist activities,” the minister said had in a statement.

Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif said that contours of future wars are fast changing.

"While our enemies supporting terrorism to stoke sub-conventional conflicts and destabilise our country, we are fully determined, capable of defeating nefarious designs," the army chief had said.

"Pakistan is opposed to the use of proxies against other countries and won't allow any country to use proxies versus Pakistan," he added.

Know more:Pakistan and Kashmir are inseparable: General Raheel Sharif

General Raheel's statement follows a flurry of similar assertions that India is involved in stoking terrorism in Pakistan. In recent weeks, the military and civilian leadership have expressed serious concerns of India's "nefarious designs", with top government officials saying India is attempting to sabotage Pakistan's historic $46 billion agreement with China.

The Pakistan Army last month asserted that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is involved in terrorism in Pakistan.

Read more:Senate body adopts resolution against Indian defence minister statement

Taking strong exception to the statement made by the Indian defence minister about sponsoring terrorism to counter terrorism, the Senate's Standing Committee on Defence last month adopted a condemnation resolution.

The committee had said the statement is an "open confession" of the Indian government pursuing the policy of state terrorism.

The resolution said the statement has serious implications for India's neighbours, and endangers peace and stability in South Asia.