24-07-2025
For India, This Is The Right Time To Mend Fences With Struggling Bangladesh
By Nitya Chakraborty
After nearly a year of frosty relations between the two neighbours India and Bangladesh, signs are there of a breakthrough as India is sending a team of burn doctors and nurses to Dhaka to treat the victims of the Monday's devastating crash of a fighter jet plane leading to the death of 31 persons and 165 injured till now. This assistance from New Delhi is the first such one since the ouster of Hasina Government from power on August 5 last year.
It is apparent that Bangladesh government agreed to seek Indian assistance at this time of disaster and New Delhi readily agreed. Indian external affairs ministry sources said on Tuesday that the visiting Indian team will also assess patient's conditions and recommend that they receive further treatment and specialized care in India if needed. More teams may travel to Dhaka.
The jet fighter was Chinese made and it crashed over a school during day time when the students were attending classes. As a result, 25 students were killed. Bangladesh is still not well equipped for tackling such plane disaster and the consequent high injuries. So the experience of the Indian burn doctors will be of big help to the Bangladesh authorities.
In terms of the ongoing diplomacy, this Indian assistance can facilitate the process of rebuilding the bilateral relations of the two countries which got disrupted after the installation of the interim government headed by Dr. Mohammad Yunus on August 8, 2024. While all the political parties, especially the students movement took anti-India position, India also under Prime Minister Narendra Modi totally ignored Dr. Yunus's regime after giving shelter to the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina in India. This led to further intensification of anti-India feelings forcing the interim regime to look for other allies.
In the last one year, Dr. Yunus was under the pressure of the contending political parties with conflicting programmes. The focus shifted to forming new relationship with once adversary Pakistan and strengthening relations with China which were already close. Both Pakistan and China expanded their areas of cooperation. Pakistan even entered the defence areas of Bangladesh including intelligence sharing throwing a challenge to the security of Indian nation. China started talks about the formation of trilateral alliance of China, Pakistan and Bangladesh. New Delhi only watched the developments from sidelines with anxiety.
The moment for India has come now. India can really win the trust of the Bangladesh government and a good section of people through its all out assistance for the victims of the jet crash and even in the process of investigation, if the host country agrees because the concerned plane is Chinese made. China might not like Indian involvement in any investigation, but Bangladesh can always seek Indian assistance which has high technical expertise in carrying out such investigations.
The present time is also witnessing murmurs against China among the Bangladesh Government officials as also the political parties about some of the actions of China affecting Bangladesh. The Dhaka regime as also the local media have been watching with suspicion the announcement about China about the dam over the river Brahmaputra which crosses India, Bangladesh and China. This project of US $170 billion will be the largest in the world vindicating the super technology and expertise of China.
Bangladesh, despite its friendly relations with China has been kept in the dark about hard information on data about water security in their country. The lack of information is compounding fears about water security in India and Bangladesh which rely on Brahmaputra for irrigation, hydropower and drinking water. Bangladesh media also mentions that the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh which borders with China said earlier this year that the Chinese dam could dry out 80 per cent of the river passing through the Indian state while potentially inundating downstream areas such as neighbouring Assam state.
While India is a big country enough to deal with the consequences of the Chinese dam, Bangladesh is feeling a bit insecure now. The section of the interim regime who are against expansion of China in Bangladesh government, has started speaking and underlining the need for cooperation with India. The crash of the China manufactured jet has added to some anti- China feeling among the people also. This is the appropriate time for New Delhi to start the healing process and try to restore relations to the normal level.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visiting spree to the foreign countries throughout the year. PM left for London on Thursday to have meeting with the British Prime Minister on July n 24 to sign the Indi-UK trade agreement. Then he will be visiting Maldives for two days. In the last one year, despite Bangladesh chief adviser Dr. Yunus's efforts, no full scale bilateral meeting was held. The one on one meeting at BIMSTEC summit last year was just a courtesy meeting as the Indian PM was not at all winning. Earlier in September 2024, Dr, Yunus wanted to meet at UN in New York, when both of them were attending, but the Indian PM deliberately changed his programme to avoid the meeting.
BIMSTEC summit is scheduled this year end and both Narendra Modi and Dr. Yunus are supposed to attend. If PM attends the summit, it is in the interests of India that he holds bilateral talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart and help facilitate the process of normalcy. Bangladesh is here to stay and it is gaining strength in economy. Bangladesh is far ahead of India in a number of human development indices. It is high time that the Prime Minister gives more time in identifying the ills which affect India's relation with its neighbour. Otherwise, it will be too late and for the consequences PM has to take sole responsibility, because PMO is in driver's seat relating to policy on Dhaka, not the external affairs ministry. (IPA Service)
