Cement the relationship!

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes his much-awaited visit to Dhaka in early September, he needs to be alert to the polarised nature of Bangladesh politics. Through diplomatic initiatives led by Prime Minister Singh and his counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, the two economies have finally arrived at a point of coordination after nearly 50 years of bifurcation, particularly on trade and transport. But even as Prime Minister Hasina has gone out on a limb to improve relations with the giant neighbour, the challenge will be to carry along the entire Bangladeshi polity – and especially the sullen Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Begum Khaleda Zia – so that the advances made in trade, transit, development assistance and security cooperation are taken ahead beyond the present-day players.

In January 2010, a memorandum was signed between Dhaka and New Delhi. Under this, Bangladesh agreed to provide transit rights to India through its territory and also responded to security concerns to the satisfaction of India's national-security establishment (see 'Connectivity: the India-Bangladesh land bridge', February 2011). Now India needs to respond to what Dhaka desperately needs: the promise of adequate payment for transit through Bangladesh to reach the Indian Northeast, and the dropping of trade barriers so that the balance of trade – currently in New Delhi's favour – will correct itself. On the ground, beyond resolving the niggling border disputes, New Delhi must also put an end to the shootings at the frontier by the Border Security Force (BSF), which continue to kill innocent economic migrants and householders.