POBNEWS24,Dhaka Dec 27, 2021: Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Doraiswamy said Bangladesh is one of India’s neighbours.
The two countries hold regular discussions and exchange information to advance relations as close neighbours.
The two sides discuss issues of mutual interest, which is not always published in the media. Due to democracy of the two countries, the citizens also give their opinion on various issues. But the opinion of the citizens is not the view of the government in the end.
The Indian envoy made the remarks in an interview with Bangla daily Prothom Alo on November 21.
In the interview held at the Indian High Commissioner’s Office, he spoke on various issues related to the relations between the two countries as well as regional and global issues.This included tensions over communal violence during Durga Puja last October, non-signing of Teesta agreement, border killings, unresolved border of Mahuri river and protracted loan agreement.
Communal violence took place in several districts of Bangladesh during the Durga Puja. Then the BJP and some religious groups created tension in West Bengal. Sad but it is true that we have been witnessing the recurrence of these events for the last two decades, he said.
Regarding the matter, Vikram Doraiswamy said the Indian government had made its position clear in a statement shortly after the incident. What happened is unfortunate. However, we noticed that the Bangladesh government did everything possible to control the situation so that the people could celebrate the festival. As a result, people were able to celebrate the Durga Puja. The government deployed large numbers of police and arrested people involved in the violence. We were aware of these issues and remained careful to say anything.
One thing I want to make clear is that what the Indian government officially says is India’s position. But it is also true that both countries have democracies. The people of the two countries have their own views. This does not mean that the government holds that viewpoint.
Have you discussed with Bangladesh about the violence during Durga Puja?
Vikram Doraiswamy said Bangladesh is an independent sovereign country. Bangladesh is our closest friend and one of our closest neighbours geographically. Naturally, we discuss such (communal violence) issues of mutual interest. But we do not talk about these issues in public. We are not here to tell you what Bangladesh should do. When the country is yours, the responsibility of taking care of the people also belongs to Bangladesh.
As India has the responsibility to take care of our people. But we do exchange information with each other. We have many friends here. As a result, we can communicate with each other about what is happening. We discuss and exchange information to ensure that the continuous positive flow of relationship.
Not only in West Bengal, but also in other parts of India due to the communal violence in Bangladesh. What is the way to address these issues?
Vikram Doraiswamy said, this is why we discuss with each other. We need to find a way to ensure that false news does not overwhelm us. Most of the time false news causes tension.
There was a lot of false news about the Tripura incident. Later it was found that the news was not correct. The Tripura state government quickly informed us about this. We have provided this information not only to government and religious leaders, but also to civil society representatives. So that they can assure the people that such an incident did not happen in reality. It is true that as a sovereign state we have a responsibility to look after our own citizens.
There was a lot of false news about the Tripura incident. Later it was found that the news was not correct. The Tripura state government quickly informed us about this. We have provided this information not only to the government and religious leaders, but also to civil society representatives. So that they can assure the people that such incident did not happen in reality. It is true that as a sovereign state we have a responsibility to look after our own citizens.
It is also our responsibility to prevent those who want to provoke sensitivities. So we try our best to exchange information. We do our best to ensure that innocent and common people do not suffer due to activities of a handful of instigators.
National Citizenship Register (NRC) is an internal matter of India. However, as a neighbour, Bangladesh has concerns about this.
How much impact it can have on the relations between the two countries?
Vikram Doraiswamy said, “We can understand Bangladesh’s concern about NRC. However, this is not a new process. If you look at the history, you will see that it is a part of the process of national registration which started in the fifties. Therefore, neither the present government of Assam nor the central government of Delhi has started it anew.
You must know about the movement of the seventies in Assam due to social and political inclusion. The movement started by calling the people living outside the state as ‘foreigners’. The history of that movement is long and violent. In the end, those who proved their ancestral position in Assam were able to resolve the issue of permanent residence in the state. It happened on the orders of the court. There is no doubt that the process was complex. However, many people misunderstood the issue. There is no attempt to identify Bangladeshis through the process of NRC.
So the process that has been completed through data collection is a different matter. Parliament will now decide on the procedure to be followed for granting citizenship in accordance with the law and the directions of the court. However, it will not have any effect in Bangladesh. Whatever is done will be limited to Indian law, citizenship law and court directions. The process has its own complexities, which are largely political issues and we have to address them.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in April 2016 that the Teesta Treaty would be signed during their tenure. But that did not happen. The people of Bangladesh feel that India is slowly moving away from the Teesta Treaty, which has created frustration among them.
But has the signing of the Teesta agreement became uncertain?
Vikram Doraiswamy said that not only Bangladesh but also India wants to sign the Teesta treaty. There was a consensus in India between the government and the opposition to address this issue. However, as a friend, I would like to say that the friends of Bangladesh say to us that it is needed to understand Bangladesh; I also want to say that it is important to understand India. We have some constitutional obligations, which cannot be changed unilaterally.
According to the constitutional framework, power is shared between the state and central governments. There are many internal issues regarding water among the states of India. It is not true that we do not want to solve the problem. We want to address the issue involving all the sides. Unfortunately, the process is political.
This should be addressed. Friends of Bangladesh should understand that there is no lack political will on our part. But we have our own political process to address any issue. However, this does not exclude us from addressing the issue of water sharing of other common rivers. Because, the number of our common river is 52. So we need to quickly find out how we can manage other rivers together.
Although the Protocol to the Historic Land Boundary Agreement was signed in 2015, the demarcation of the Feni River is still pending. As the issue was not resolved at the official level, it was supposed to be resolved at the political level.
What is the latest situation?
Vikram Doraiswamy said, “We have been discussing for more than a year to fix the 1.6 km border of Feni river. Both the nsides have agreed to resolve the issue following the principles of the land border agreement. The question is, at what time will the river boundary be measured? In the past the boundaries were given after jointly measuring the river water. Since then the course of the river has changed. Now the question arises, which course of the river will be considered? Because, the issue of land use is directly involved with it. It has been delayed due to outbreak of Covid-19.
Hopefully, we will be able to address this by speeding up the process. From the political level we have been asked to find a solution so that no new complications are created. Therefore, it is now the responsibility of the surveyors and bureaucrats of both the parties to find a solution with intelligence. The task did not seem impossible to me. I went there twice and saw the map and realized that this problem can be solved. We have to resolve this under the land boundary agreement package.
Indian authorities have repeatedly promised to stop the use of lethal weapons at the border. Even then the killing of unarmed Bangladeshis at the border is not stopping. Why the killing is not going to stop at the border?
Vikram Doraiswamy said, thank you for asking me this question. First, we need to make it clear that those who are being killed are not unarmed. We also need to understand what is happening at the border.
Something is happening at the border every day. Blank shots are fired several times a day, and it happen from 10pm to 5am. The question is, who is involved in these incidents? First, Indians and Bangladeshis are involved in these incidents. It is certainly not illegal immigration. Secondly, 99 percent of these people are between the ages of 18 and 35. All of them are involved in illegal activities including cattle smuggling. If it is a matter of smuggling small things like yaba, it can be done by throwing it from one side of the border to the other. There is no need to gather so many people!
While these incidents of loss of life are highly reprehensible and tragic, they should not be confused with the illegal crossing of unarmed people at the border. This is because when civilians are caught accidentally or during a planned incursion, members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) regularly try to repatriate detainees once their citizenship has been confirmed. People detained at the time of entry are not deported unless they have sufficient information. They were handed over to the local police for filing a case against them. According to official figures, 460 Bangladeshis have been handed over to the BGB from January to October 2021. And 124 Bangladeshis have been handed over due to violation of border laws.
He said that the incidents of violence due to illegal economic activities at the border should be investigated. A large number of border guards deployed in our part of the border patrol regularly. Usually a group of four people patrol at night. As part of our own management, one has a deadly weapon in the interest of reducing border violence and protection. Others have palette songs (non-lethal weapons).
Doraishami said, this is the picture of the border in our part. If there is any pressure at the border, we coordinate. A group from the Indian side come and gathered at the border. A group from Bangladesh come and also gathered. The smugglers try to cross the cows by cutting the barbed wire fence. They can’t cut it fast because of the long barbed wire fences on both sides of the border. Hence, sometimes they bring heavy equipment including cantilever to pass the cows over the barbed wire. When the Indian border guards stop the smugglers on our part, they start violence. These people, who are more in number than the border guards, have sharp weapons and sticks in their hands. This creates a risk to the lives of the border guards.
Smugglers usually know in advance which border guards have lethal weapons in their hands. So in the beginning they attack the border guards carrying weapons. People from both sides of the border do it. Because it happens in the dark of night, you cannot understand who is an Indian and who is a Bangladeshi. They all look the same. In all incidents of border violence, BSF members have been severely injured by sharp weapons, some have had their hands amputated, some have lost their wrists. The situation is not such that the border guards wanted to shoot at the people in the beginning.
Some statistics can be given in support of this argument. Between 2010 and 2019, 124 Bangladeshis were killed inside Indian territory by Indian border guards. At the same time, 90 Indian nationals were killed in these incidents. At that time, 17 BSF members lost their lives in these violent incidents. A total of 1,039 BSF members were injured in the attacks.
So the victims of the tragic violence on our part of the border are not illegal immigrants. Illegal crossings for work purpose occur from the both sides. In this case, the protocol is very humane. Violence to people does not occur during border crossings. But when violence and death are combined, things are different, which is not illegal immigration. People do not do this to come and go in India or Bangladesh. They are doing it for economic purposes.
People are poor and they have to find a way to make a living. You can’t call them cattle traders. There is no legal cattle trade between Bangladesh and India. Cattle trade may be legal within Bangladesh and within the states of India. But cross-border cattle trade is not legal. Those who are doing this, they know the matter. If not, why would they go to the border at three o’clock at night? If they are legitimate cattle traders, they are supposed to go during the daytime. People need to understand it. These people must be stopped. It must be stopped.
We need to work together to increase economic opportunities and encourage legitimate trade across the border. People have had social and cultural ties for over 75 years. There is no reason to complicate the situation without supporting their celebration. In a country that is so important to us, why go there to provoke a negative attitude towards us? It doesn’t make any sense. Poor people want to earn in an easy way. Cattle are not so expensive in India. But good prices are available in Bangladesh. It is true that Bangladesh is doing very well in animal production. As a result, you don’t really need a cow. But if you can buy from India at a nominal price and sell here at a good price, then everyone will want to earn in this way.
Bangladesh has received maximum assistance under the India’s Lines of Credit (LOC) programme. However, the two countries have acknowledged the delay in implementing projects under the LOC.
What is the latest status of project implementation?
Vikram Doraiswamy said both sides want to expedite the matter. Under the LOC, we have so far announced 780 crore Dollars in assistance to Bangladesh, which is about 28 percent of our global aid. Compared to the conditions on which this assistance has been given to different countries of the world, it has been given to Bangladesh on more flexible terms. This assistance has been given at 1 percent interest. It can be said that no one else has the opportunity to provide this assistance on better terms. We are bearing the difference between the rate at which we borrow from the market and the rate at which we lend. So naturally we want the project to be accelerated, otherwise the cost of the project will continue to increase.
In the meantime, the two sides have realized the major challenges in the implementation of the project. For example, the procurement project under LOC is progressing fast. Buying is relatively easy. What kind of thing you want to buy, what kind of thing it will be, like bus or construction materials, then invite tenders, check the market and buy it at a good price.
I want to mention the issue of price. We want to make sure that you buy at a good price, and we are working to get the best price from any company, not to mention a specific company in India. As a result, purchases have been made cheaper than possible. It has saved money for both parties.
Out of 43 projects worth 690 crore Dollars under the LOC, 14 have been completed so far, 16 are under implementation and 11 are in the process of being drafted (DPP). Evaluating from a financial point of view, it can be said that 72% of the projects are in the planning or DPP and tender process. The issue of DPP is an internal issue of Bangladesh. So here we have no chance to dictate the work. Some projects were proposed three to four years ago. As a result, after the DPP is finalized, the cost of the project naturally increases. However, after the problem was identified last year, the work has gained momentum.
Until last year, we were able to spend about 70 crore Dollars. This year we have spent 12 crore dollars. We expect the cost to exceed 100 crore dollars, including tenders and project implementation. This will speed up the implementation of the rest of the project. Some of the LOC projects we need to move forward quickly. In the meantime, we have decided that the work of the project in the tender stage will be done complementarily. We will assist in the supplementary process, Exim Bank in tendering process, signing the project contract and finalizing the terms of the project together. There is no need to do one thing after another.
This is how Japan works. We are following the Japanese process here. The issue of work bill should also be kept into mind. Institutions that are working will not work unless they receive their bills on time. In the interest of speeding up the whole process as a whole, the work of finalizing the DPP needs to be speeded up.
