A new crisis on the border?

THE UNCOMMON FEROCITY of the latest clash between some units of the Bangladesh Army as also Bangladesh Rifles, on one side, and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), on the other, should serve as a wake-up call against complacency in bilateral neighbourliness. The death of 16 BSF personnel and at least two security men of Bangladesh on Wednesday, besides the reports of sustained tensions on Thursday, can only be seen as the price of neglect by both countries in keeping their ties in a state of good repair. Yet to be clearly established are the facts of the latest skirmishes which are seen by the Indian side as a categorical case of unprovoked firing by the Bangladesh forces near the Boraibari BSF post. India will be fully justified in observing utmost vigil on its frontier with Bangladesh. But the general emotion in Dhaka is one of dismay over the alleged ``intrusion'' by the BSF personnel - a charge that has been quickly dismissed by the Indian security establishment as absolutely untrue. On the whole, the Bangladesh Government, headed by Sheikh Hasina, seems to have so far adopted a somewhat cautious line in making sense of the flare-up and its fall-out. The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has been reported to have called the Indian envoy in Dhaka to discuss ways to defuse the rising tensions in bilateral ties. The general impression conveyed by Dhaka thus far is one of a desire to de-escalate a growing crisis on the border with India. Yet, it is too early to predict how Bangladesh will manage the highly emotive issue, given especially the constant refrain of the opposition forces in that country about Ms. Hasina's presumptive pro-India bias.

For the Vajpayee administration, on the other hand, the Boraibari clashes could not have come at a more awkward time. For long, it has maintained that India's relationships with almost all its neighbours, except of course Pakistan, have remained on a largely friendly course. The dormant South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is expected to try and renew in a few weeks' time a process of active interactions among its member-states. As the predominant player in South Asia or at least the first among the SAARC's equal members, India can ill- afford a border fracas with Bangladesh. Significant, therefore, is the latest assertion by the External Affairs and Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, that New Delhi is already fine-tuning its initiative for the restoration of status quo ante on the India-Bangladesh border. A deep concern over the dramatic downturn in ties with Dhaka is only mitigated by his apparent confidence in a triumph of the bilateral ``friendly'' spirit. However, what has occurred at this time is no friendly fire, a diplomatic euphemism for combat action caused by a mistake. The event must be fully investigated and addressed.

New Delhi's relationship with Dhaka, unique in many ways with some signs of maturity too, is still a matter of powerful emotions that are directly traceable to the circumstances in which India had facilitated Bangladesh's liberation from Pakistan. The leaders of India and Bangladesh have had to deal with problems about the status of border enclaves as also the freedom of movement of people across what some tend to regard as a potential frontier of friendship. The sharing of river waters, too, has taxed the diplomatic ingenuity of both countries. And, there has also been an experiment in what was seen as bus diplomacy with a difference, regarding a Calcutta-Dhaka service. Of prime relevance to the current context, though, is the need to revive the spirit of border coordination talks and of the accord, reached last December, on the formation of working groups to resolve ``all boundary related matters''.

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