On balance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh has been good and useful, with several important agreements that will strengthen the bilateral relationship. However, it hasn’t turned out to be the much-anticipated “historic” visit envisioned originally. The author of this sorry chapter was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Teesta and Feni river waters agreement was, of course, not as important as the trade concessions that India has offered and the land transfers and border agreements on which both countries have agreed. It took the Indian government a considerable effort to make the concessions on textile trade, and Bangladesh has appreciated this fact. But by sabotaging the river waters agreement, not only has Ms Banerjee helped Bangladesh withdraw its offer on transit corridor but, more importantly, it has robbed the visit of the one element that was uppermost in the mind of both heads of government, namely the need to build trust between both countries. While the central government, especially the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Congress party must share part of the responsibility for not ensuring that Ms Banerjee was fully on board (and for not addressing some of her more reasonable demands on both of them), the fact is that Ms Banerjee acted in narrow self and political interest, sacrificing the larger interest of the nation and the neighbourhood. She deserves outright condemnation for such partisan behaviour.
Prime Minister Singh has held out the prospect that both countries will quickly address the new issues that have cropped up and complete the process. He must no longer leave this to his officials or colleagues and must take charge of the process. Bangladesh and India have been doing well on the economic front, unlike Pakistan and Nepal, and must keep the momentum of growth going. A lot is at stake for both countries and they will benefit from economic integration, both bilateral and regional. Hopefully, the two prime ministers will be able to limit the damage inflicted by Ms Banerjee and recover lost ground sooner rather than later. In diplomacy, as in economic reform, the bicycle metaphor is relevant. Unless there is constant pedalling and movement forward, the danger of things falling apart remains.
