Monday, Feb 17, 2003
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By Amit Baruah
Senior officials told this correspondent that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, had conveyed the Government's concerns to Mr. Khan. "One positive result of the visit is that the scale and complexity of the problems has been conveyed to Mr. Khan," they said, hoping that Bangladesh would now begin the process of addressing Indian concerns. At one meeting, the Bangladeshi side is said to have reiterated its known positions on outstanding issues while agreeing to keep the door of dialogue open. New Delhi, it would appear, is reserving judgment on Mr. Khan's visit. If the visit begins a process of addressing Indian concerns on the issue of illegal immigration, then it would be seen as a step forward. The officials pointed out that there had been previous contacts with Bangladesh on outstanding issues, including a visit by Mr. Khan in June 2002, but little progress had been achieved. The last time too, Mr. Khan made similar statements, but little follow-up action was forthcoming. The official mood appears to be that Bangladesh must begin to meet Indian concerns or else the tensions in the relationship might come to the surface again. On its part, Bangladesh's "past position" on different issues is not considered adequate in official circles. While remaining engaged was being viewed positively, engagement by itself was not seen as a virtue. There was a need to move forward credibly on the issues raised by India and the idea behind the continuing process of engagement was to pursue solutions. It was felt that there was a lack of political intent within the Bangladesh Government to address the concerns raised by India from time to time. The officials said a "heavy dose of positive political intent" would send out the right political signal to New Delhi. When asked about the re-activation of consultation channels at different levels, including a meeting between the Foreign Secretaries, they said tangible redressal must be on the agenda. Also, the handing over of 200 Bangladeshi nationals, alleged to be wanted criminals, was not the same as handing over "terrorists" from India who had taken sanctuary in Bangladesh. The officials claimed that terrorists and rapists and murderers could not be placed in the same category, especially since some persons wanted by India had "red corner notices" issued against them by Interpol. Clearly, there is a need to look at India-Bangladesh relations as a process and not as an event. Keeping open the channels of communication between the neighbours, who share a 4,000-km long border is critical, but so is the requirement of bilateral redressal of grievances.
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