28 December 2021, NIICE Commentary 7590
Dr. Manan Dwivedi & Shonit Nayan
We lovingly remember and our internalized thoughts go out for General Sam Manekshaw, who promised to Mrs. Indira Gandhi that he would take out Pakistan within a period of one and a half months, but it’s a totally different compliment to him that Bangladesh succeeded in becoming an independent nation as an aftermath of the India-Pakistan war in 1971. It has been pointed out by former Prime Minister I K Gujral through the enunciation of his utilitarian and symbiotic doctrine of the “Gujral Doctrine” in the mid nineties. Despite India making all the kosher moves to befriend and cooperate with its immediate neighborhood as part of its, “Neighborhood First Policy”, India went ahead with the idiom of staying away from the negative sobriquet of a “Benign Hegemon” which according to official diplomatist and New Delhi circles, was a kind of Damocles sword hanging over the inclination and proclivities of the Indian Union.
India shares a great quantum of camaraderie with Dhaka since the liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971 and the Indian bonhomie with Dhaka was writ large over the narrative of interactions between the twin neighbors due to the Bengali comeuppance between both the nations. The people and the citizens of both the nations shared a common past as being part of the larger Indian subcontinent and the Bengali segment of cultural contiguity. Apart from this cultural consonance, the tide of fundamentalism which India and Bangladesh face right at the faces of their societal and political construct also acts as a strategic and political adhesive for both the nations, who fought together a Regime of genocidal proportions before the independence of the vibrant nationality of the state of Bangladesh.
Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina mutually celebrated the Golden jubilee of Dhaka’s independence in March 2021, when the Indian Prime Minister visited Bangladesh on a ceremonial occasion which is sacrosanct to the larger nation of Bangladesh. India is too co celebrating the Mujib Borsho in 2021 with the conjunction between the foreign policy objectives running the show dominantly. Ministry of External Affairs reports about the utterances of PM Modi and the joint Statement issued in March, 2021 that, “ Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one of the greatest leaders of modern times, will be remembered for his courage and indelible contribution to Bangladesh’s emergence as a sovereign country. He also recalled the contribution of Bangabandhu in nurturing peace, security and development in the region. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thanked India for conferring Gandhi Peace Prize for the year.” Another event tying up both the nations happens to be that of anointing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the prestigious Gandhi peace prize for 2021.
Another noted contour of the bilateral tryst between both the nations has been the pioneering role played by Bangladesh in the establishment of SAARC, “South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation” in the mid eighties of the 20th century. The bottlenecks of the local genre of the order of the perpetual feud between India and Pakistan along with the relative immaturity and unstable nature of a few polities in South Asia have ceremoniously acted as a spanner in the works of the success of regional cooperation in South Asia. India Naval Ships of the order of Sumedha and Kulish were present in the Bangladeshi ports (Mongla) in order to participate more than symbolically in the fruitful and benign relationship between the twin democracies of South Asia, where –in, defence cooperation can be good initiator and connector between New Delhi and the Dhaka dispensation. One of the significant aspects of bilateral trade and investment happens to be of the order of upgrading the infrastructure in Indian North East and the contiguous Bangladeshi regions so that a conjoined transactional quid pro quo can be strengthened between both the nations. Going verbatim by the MEA release, it can be extrapolated that, “Both the nations reiterated the importance of harmonization of standards and mutual recognition of agreements and certificates for enhancing bilateral trade. It was agreed that in the spirit of liberalizing trade between the two countries, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) would collaborate for the capacity building and development of testing and Lab facilities.”
The historical contiguity of India’s Mitra Bahini fighting alongside Mukti Bahini in 1971 and the strategically arranged Pakistani surrender in Dhaka initiated a new epoch in the India Bangladeshi tryst. Indian citizens pride over its military achievement and the cascading effect which India had on the freedom concerns amongst the masses and intellectuals alike in Bangladesh. India has been praised handsomely for the provision of 3.5 million doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine to the State and the people of Bangladesh (the largest recipient of made-in-India vaccines).
Further stating, commemoration of the 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary of India-Bangladesh diplomatic bonhomie on 6th Decemebr, 2021 popularly coined as Maitri Diwas, followed by recent State visit (December 15-17,2021) of the President of India to Bangladesh to mark Victory Day celebrations, has not only ensured and propagated message that Bangladesh always occupies a special place & privilege in India’s “Neighbourhood First” Policy, but also, affirmed that the strong bond started 50 years ago, which is based upon common boosters of language, kinship, religion, cultural ethos, people to people contact, and mutual respect of both republic towards one-another, which is mature enough to handle complexities and irritants amid these two peaceful neighbours.
Thus, India attaches a novae attachment with the Dhaka denomination in order to traverse the way forward in the context of the future regional cooperation and stability in South Asia. There are several bilateral bonhomie boosters are in pipeline, which having immense potential to transform year 2022 as Happy New Year for these two neighbouring nations including Rs. 364-crore India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project (IBFPP) and ultimately turning Bangladesh as ASEAN plus 1(Bangladesh seats where South Asia meets the Himalaya & the Indian sub-continent).
Dr. Manan Dwivedi is a Faculty, International Relations & International Organization at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), India and Shonit Nayan is a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Public Administration & Policy Studies, Central University of Kerala, India.
