India, Bangladesh to review ties during Moni's visit to Delhi

Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Sept 6 (PTI) The entire gamut of bilateral ties,
including the Tipaimukh dam issue, sharing of river waters,
trade, border management and combating terrorism, are expected
to come up for discussion at a "congenial ambience" during
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni's 4-day visit to India
beginning tomorrow.

This is Moni's first official trip to the neighbouring
country since the installation of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina's Awami League to power eight months ago following the
historic December 29 general elections in Bangladesh.

Officials said the bilateral ties, including the
contentious issue of the hydro-electric Tipaimukh dam whose
construction by India is opposed by the opposition BNP here,
are expected to be discussed during Moni's talks with her
Indian counterpart S M Krishna.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in his then capacity
as External Affairs Minister, had held talks with Moni on
February 9, when he visited Dhaka mainly to convey India's
good wishes to the new government led by Awami League, widely
regarded as a traditional ally of the Congress party.

Officials familiar with Moni's visit process said India
was keen to "bridge differences with Bangladesh" on sensitive
matters like Tipakimukh and move ahead on trade and transit.

Trade, investment, sharing waters of the common rivers,
including the Teesta, border management, connectivity and
security issues were other topics likely to figure prominently
during the Moni-Krishna talks, they said.(

Official sources said the two sides were likely to
focus on enhancing connectivity and giving a fresh momentum
to expanding economic engagement that would help in reducing
"trust deficit" to resolve complex issues like border
management, infiltration and illegal migration and terrorism.

Political and foreign analysts said the installation of
Awami League and Congress to power in the two countries
created a congenial ambience to settle the longstanding
issues through constructive negotiations because of the
historic links between the two parties since the 1971
Liberation War of Bangladesh.

The trade deficit is one such major issue while Dhaka has
been pressing for long to remove para and non-tariff
barriers to Bangladeshi exports in a bid to reduce the
yawning trade gap that accounts for over USD 2,566 million.

Business analysts said Bangladesh looks for stepping up
its exports to the landlocked seven northeastern states and
close the trade imbalance if the barriers were removed.

The two countries also share over 50 common rivers and
there had not been any progress in distribution of waters of
the seven other rivers, including the Teesta, though the
landmark 1996 Ganges Water Treaty during the previous tenure
of Hasina.

The proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River in Manipur
dominated the centre stage of Bangladesh-India-relations in
the past several months though New Delhi assured Dhaka nothing
would be done under the project which could affect Bangladesh.

According to officials, India has made as many as four
proposals, including the signing of an extradition treaty,
mutual legal assistance against terrorism and exchange of
sentenced prisoners, to be signed between the two countries.

"We have suggested going ahead with the proposals after
considering our laws, but the final decision has to be made
by the highest office of the government," said an official
familiar with the process.

Moni's visit comes as India has been seeking more
land-route connectivity through Bangladesh to boost trading in
its seven northeastern states while it has a long-pending
proposal seeking to use Bangladesh's port facilities alongside
the road transit.

No major headway in this regard was witnessed in the past
years in view of what analysts said "sensitivity" in
bilateral relations.

"All these issues are under discussion and we are
expecting them to take a shape as Foreign Minister Dipu Moni
is visiting New Delhi ... Let us see how best we can reach
agreements on these issues," Indian High Commissioner Pinak
Ranjan Chakravarty recently told PTI as he emphasised the
importance of "political will" in making the longstanding
proposals. PTI AR
JVN


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