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Author: Sanat K Chakraborty
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 25, 2006
Bangladesh is increasingly becoming a haven for Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist forces, threatening not only its fledgling democratic structure, but also causing grave security concerns for India.
The ruling political establishment under Begam Khaleda Zia seems to be failing in reining in those elements, which are being propped up, trained and supported by foreign agencies, especially the Pakistani ISI, to carry out subversive activities against India.
"India's security will be hugely undermined, unless the trend continued," Brahma Chellaney, one of India's top security and strategy analysts said at an International seminar on 'Bangladesh: National, Regional and Global contexts' this weekend.
Mr Chellaney, who is also a member of the policy advisory group, said India must be wary of the deepening of the Chinese involvement in Myanmar, and currently in Bangladesh's economic and military spheres. He pointed out that China had already secured a sea footing through Pakistan, and now the former is trying to access the Chittagong port in Bangladesh, thereby accentuating India's security threats.
Lt Gen Satish Nambiar (retd) said the dimensions of future conflicts might be found what he called, "in the matrix of India-Bangladesh relations: namely, terrorism, demography (migration), energy and environment (water resources)." But it is unlikely that the international community would take note of these, and India has to fight its own battle against terrorism.
Tensions between the two countries can be felt whenever the issues of cross-border movement of people, arms, contraband goods, drugs (narcotics), offering shelter and training of extremist forces, including rebel groups from Northeast India are brought up.
The Bangladeshi panelists comprising former diplomats and economists on the other hand lamented that their country was unfairly being painted as a 'failed State or a dysfunctional democracy' and questioning its secular credentials.
They urged the international community to view Bangladesh with a little empathy as it was making strides in social and economic sectors, despite adverse political and security environment both within the country and across its international borders.
"We recognise that for us relations with India is vital," former SAARC secretary general and foreign secretary Ambassador Abul Ahsan said, and it would be foolhardy to ignore its growing political, economic and military influence in the sub-continent. However, he felt that the irritants could be solved through understanding and sincere co-operation. He said an Indo-Bangla energy co-operation initiative could transform the economy of Bangladesh and also improve relations between the two countries.
The seminar, organised by the Society for Peace, Security and Development Studies, Allahabad and the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, concluded that India's security lies with the strong, prosperous and politically stable Bangladesh, and for that, Indo-Bangla co-operation is essential.
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