Modi-Hasina meeting: An anticlimax
Print Edition
Saturday, 04 October 2014
Author /
Source: M. Serajul Islam
The meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi on
the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York was an anti-climax in the backdrop
of the hype that was created in the Bangladesh media over it. Foreign Minister
AH Mahmood Ali’s briefing to the media following his official visit to New
Delhi early in September and meeting with Narendra Modi was one of the main
reasons for the media hype in Bangladesh over the Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi
meeting.
One line in this media hype was that the Indian Prime
Minister would assure Sheikh Hasina that India and China are on the same page
regarding support for Bangladesh. The media in Bangladesh also took a story
floated in the Indian media that RAW had unearthed a Jamat-ISI plan to
assassinate Sheikh Hasina and that Narendra Modi would bring Sheikh Hasina
up-to-date on the plan to assure her and her government of New Delhi’s full
support against the plot. The media further speculated that Narendra Modi would
also bring Washington on board against the plot to encourage the United States
to support the AL Government for sake of saving secularism and fighting Islamic
fundamentalism in Bangladesh.
The media hype ended on an anti-climactic note with a meeting that lasted for only 15 minutes. The meeting was thus not long enough for the Indian Prime Minister to discuss the issues upon which the media had speculated leading to the meeting. The short duration planned for the meeting no doubt hinted clearly that the Indians did not have in mind any intention to discuss serious issues in Bangladesh-India relations, speculations in the Bangladesh media notwithstanding. The issue of duration apart, the note taker for the meeting was an official from the Indian side with none from Bangladesh side that was both surprising and unusual.
The bland outcome of the meeting was reflected in the fact that the news of the meeting failed to get coverage as a major news item in the Bangladesh media the following day belying the media hype over it leading to the meeting. The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary who briefed the media after the meeting said Narendra Modi informed Sheikh Hasina about his government’s seriousness about the Teesta and LBA deals and “searching for ways to resolve the deals”. According to him, Sheikh Hasina raised the BCIM-EC corridor and removal of problems related to regional connectivity to which Narendra Modi responded positively. The Foreign Secretary repeated the spin that the Foreign Minister had given upon his return from New Delhi; that Narendra Modi had told him that Bangabandhu founded Bangladesh and his daughter saved the country.
This important part of the Foreign Secretary’s briefing however did not figure in the briefing of the Indian MEA spokesman on the meeting. The Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that Narendra Modi informed Sheikh Hasina that the bill for ratification of the LBA is with the parliamentary standing committee where it is under process. He added that since new members have been included in the parliamentary committee, they would need time to examine the bill. The Spokesman said that on the Teesta deal, Narendra Modi told Sheikh Hasina that water is a sensitive issue and that Teesta deal is moving towards a resolution taking the sensitivity into account. Narendra Modi added that water is flowing to Bangladesh on the Teesta even without the deal. The Indian Spokesman emphasised that Narendra Modi assured Sheikh Hasina about India’s goodwill for Bangladesh.
The briefings by the two sides and other reports that have come in the media left both the ruling Awami League and the BNP unsure whether to be happy or unhappy with the meeting’s outcome. The Awami Leaguers and their supporters were expecting that Narendra Modi would use the meeting to send the message that his government would stand behind the AL led government, if not exactly the way the Congress had, to a large extent that way. That did not come out of the meeting. The BNP had expected Narendra Modi would raise issues, particularly on Bangladesh’s overtures towards China, that would give the impression that his government would move away in a major manner from supporting the AL led government compared to the Congress Government.
Nevertheless, the BNP has felt happy that Narendra Modi mentioned about continuing relations with Bangladesh instead of mentioning the AL led government. It has also taken heart from the fact that the media speculations that Narendra Modi would offer all out cooperation to the Hasina Government to protect it from the alleged ISI-Jamat plot has turned out to be just a media hype. The AL can feel happy that Narendra Modi did not raise any issue that would have hinted that it is unhappy with anything that the Hasina Government is doing for instance its overtures towards China that media has speculated has made New Delhi uncomfortable. It can feel confident that the Indian Government under Narendra Modi would not change course in the way the Congress Government had conducted bilateral relations.
The take of the two parties apart, the Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi meeting had very little for the people of Bangladesh. Narendra Modi did not acknowledge the fact the Teesta and LBA are negotiated deals for which Bangladesh has given India what it needed most from Bangladesh, a guarantee of its security concerns. As a part of that security commitment, the AL led government handed to Indian security top ULFA terrorists immediately after coming to power in January 2008 that have helped India break the backbone of the dangerous ULFA secessionist movement. Bangladesh also gave India land transit on trial basis that allowed Tripura to build the 700 MW gas fired Palatana Power station. Narendra Modi showed no regret for India’s failure on the commitments and instead merely reiterated his government’s intentions to deliver the deals without any time frame. In fact, reading between the lines of the MEA Spokesman’s briefing, both deals are now uncertain.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister did not flag for her counterpart that in the last two years of the Congress Government, New Delhi had many times conveyed to the Bangladesh Government that the deals would be delivered “soon” or round the corner. Therefore she should have informed that the Indian Prime Minister that if the two deals are not delivered without any further delay, it would affect the forward movement of Bangladesh-India relations. Unfortunately such is the present importance of New Delhi in Bangladesh unbelievably partisan politics that the AL led government is afraid to press New Delhi for what it owes Bangladesh lest it upsets it. The opposition is also afraid to point this out lest it ends annoying India.
Thus India is in no hurry and also under no pressure in conducting its relations with Bangladesh. Nevertheless, when India failed to deliver the two deals in September 2011 during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Dhaka, the international media had called that failure a betrayal.
Therefore India should deliver the deals for its own good name and Narendra Modi more so because of his already stated foreign policy priority of developing friendly relations with SAARC countries. Narendra Modi-Sheikh Hasina meeting in New York has not set any new directions in bilateral relations. It has also not answered whether the BJP Government would discontinue the blatant Indian interference in Bangladesh in favour of one major party against the other. So far the expectations of the people of Bangladesh are concerned, the meeting has been a setback.
The writer is a retired career diplomat. The views expressed above are his
very own and not necessarily shared
by this paper.
His email id is :
ambserajulislam@gmail.com
Saturday, 04 October 2014
Author /
Source: M. Serajul Islam
The meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi on
the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York was an anti-climax in the backdrop
of the hype that was created in the Bangladesh media over it. Foreign Minister
AH Mahmood Ali’s briefing to the media following his official visit to New
Delhi early in September and meeting with Narendra Modi was one of the main
reasons for the media hype in Bangladesh over the Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi
meeting.
One line in this media hype was that the Indian Prime
Minister would assure Sheikh Hasina that India and China are on the same page
regarding support for Bangladesh. The media in Bangladesh also took a story
floated in the Indian media that RAW had unearthed a Jamat-ISI plan to
assassinate Sheikh Hasina and that Narendra Modi would bring Sheikh Hasina
up-to-date on the plan to assure her and her government of New Delhi’s full
support against the plot. The media further speculated that Narendra Modi would
also bring Washington on board against the plot to encourage the United States
to support the AL Government for sake of saving secularism and fighting Islamic
fundamentalism in Bangladesh.
The media hype ended on an anti-climactic note with a meeting that lasted for only 15 minutes. The meeting was thus not long enough for the Indian Prime Minister to discuss the issues upon which the media had speculated leading to the meeting. The short duration planned for the meeting no doubt hinted clearly that the Indians did not have in mind any intention to discuss serious issues in Bangladesh-India relations, speculations in the Bangladesh media notwithstanding. The issue of duration apart, the note taker for the meeting was an official from the Indian side with none from Bangladesh side that was both surprising and unusual.
The bland outcome of the meeting was reflected in the fact that the news of the meeting failed to get coverage as a major news item in the Bangladesh media the following day belying the media hype over it leading to the meeting. The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary who briefed the media after the meeting said Narendra Modi informed Sheikh Hasina about his government’s seriousness about the Teesta and LBA deals and “searching for ways to resolve the deals”. According to him, Sheikh Hasina raised the BCIM-EC corridor and removal of problems related to regional connectivity to which Narendra Modi responded positively. The Foreign Secretary repeated the spin that the Foreign Minister had given upon his return from New Delhi; that Narendra Modi had told him that Bangabandhu founded Bangladesh and his daughter saved the country.
This important part of the Foreign Secretary’s briefing however did not figure in the briefing of the Indian MEA spokesman on the meeting. The Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that Narendra Modi informed Sheikh Hasina that the bill for ratification of the LBA is with the parliamentary standing committee where it is under process. He added that since new members have been included in the parliamentary committee, they would need time to examine the bill. The Spokesman said that on the Teesta deal, Narendra Modi told Sheikh Hasina that water is a sensitive issue and that Teesta deal is moving towards a resolution taking the sensitivity into account. Narendra Modi added that water is flowing to Bangladesh on the Teesta even without the deal. The Indian Spokesman emphasised that Narendra Modi assured Sheikh Hasina about India’s goodwill for Bangladesh.
The briefings by the two sides and other reports that have come in the media left both the ruling Awami League and the BNP unsure whether to be happy or unhappy with the meeting’s outcome. The Awami Leaguers and their supporters were expecting that Narendra Modi would use the meeting to send the message that his government would stand behind the AL led government, if not exactly the way the Congress had, to a large extent that way. That did not come out of the meeting. The BNP had expected Narendra Modi would raise issues, particularly on Bangladesh’s overtures towards China, that would give the impression that his government would move away in a major manner from supporting the AL led government compared to the Congress Government.
Nevertheless, the BNP has felt happy that Narendra Modi mentioned about continuing relations with Bangladesh instead of mentioning the AL led government. It has also taken heart from the fact that the media speculations that Narendra Modi would offer all out cooperation to the Hasina Government to protect it from the alleged ISI-Jamat plot has turned out to be just a media hype. The AL can feel happy that Narendra Modi did not raise any issue that would have hinted that it is unhappy with anything that the Hasina Government is doing for instance its overtures towards China that media has speculated has made New Delhi uncomfortable. It can feel confident that the Indian Government under Narendra Modi would not change course in the way the Congress Government had conducted bilateral relations.
The take of the two parties apart, the Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi meeting had very little for the people of Bangladesh. Narendra Modi did not acknowledge the fact the Teesta and LBA are negotiated deals for which Bangladesh has given India what it needed most from Bangladesh, a guarantee of its security concerns. As a part of that security commitment, the AL led government handed to Indian security top ULFA terrorists immediately after coming to power in January 2008 that have helped India break the backbone of the dangerous ULFA secessionist movement. Bangladesh also gave India land transit on trial basis that allowed Tripura to build the 700 MW gas fired Palatana Power station. Narendra Modi showed no regret for India’s failure on the commitments and instead merely reiterated his government’s intentions to deliver the deals without any time frame. In fact, reading between the lines of the MEA Spokesman’s briefing, both deals are now uncertain.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister did not flag for her counterpart that in the last two years of the Congress Government, New Delhi had many times conveyed to the Bangladesh Government that the deals would be delivered “soon” or round the corner. Therefore she should have informed that the Indian Prime Minister that if the two deals are not delivered without any further delay, it would affect the forward movement of Bangladesh-India relations. Unfortunately such is the present importance of New Delhi in Bangladesh unbelievably partisan politics that the AL led government is afraid to press New Delhi for what it owes Bangladesh lest it upsets it. The opposition is also afraid to point this out lest it ends annoying India.
Thus India is in no hurry and also under no pressure in conducting its relations with Bangladesh. Nevertheless, when India failed to deliver the two deals in September 2011 during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Dhaka, the international media had called that failure a betrayal.
Therefore India should deliver the deals for its own good name and Narendra Modi more so because of his already stated foreign policy priority of developing friendly relations with SAARC countries. Narendra Modi-Sheikh Hasina meeting in New York has not set any new directions in bilateral relations. It has also not answered whether the BJP Government would discontinue the blatant Indian interference in Bangladesh in favour of one major party against the other. So far the expectations of the people of Bangladesh are concerned, the meeting has been a setback.
The writer is a retired career diplomat. The views expressed above are his
very own and not necessarily shared
by this paper.
His email id is :
ambserajulislam@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment