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.
