America’s presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden are getting ready to face off in their first television debate tonight, in the run-up to the election for the world’s most powerful job this November. But here in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar knows that at least for the moment, his virtual joint consultative commission meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart A.K. Abdul Momen today is far more significant.
Bangladeshis have been time and again hit in the solar plexus by Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments describing them as “termites (deemak)” who should be thrown into the Bay of Bengal – words spoken in the heat and dust of an election campaign in 2018 and last year, but still hurtful – and it has now fallen upon Jaishankar to assuage them, to apologise without saying sorry.
As a former diplomat, Jaishankar has been trained to do precisely that for decades. Sometimes you are forced to deal with powerful, but whacky outliers — Tejasvi Surya, for example, the Bengaluru South MP who has just been made BJP youth wing president and is believed to be close to Amit Shah.
Jaishankar has so far successfully ignored unhappy beneath-the-radar murmurings by the Arab world, which, incidentally, loves Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but is dismayed by Surya’s distasteful comments about Arab women. Ignoring Surya, putting down his obnoxious comments to the fact that he’s a callow 29 years old and still wet behind the ears, is perhaps the only thing to do. He will learn – hopefully.
Amit Shah’s comments about illegal Bangladeshi migrants are far more serious, not just because it’s the PM’s closest aide and confidante making them, but because the BJP will likely make this a key issue when Assam and West Bengal go to the polls next year. Admittedly, illegal migration has been taking place for decades, so much so that the character of several Bengali districts bordering Bangladesh has changed.
The BJP is expected to try every trick in the arsenal to wrest Bengal away from Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress – to win every crucial vote, illegal migrants included.
That is why in today’s joint consultative commission meeting, the Indian foreign minister will take the “glass half-full approach”, stressing upon the joys of connectivity and the importance of growing bilateral trade that bind the two nations together.
Also read: Dhaka wants New Delhi to forego ‘stringent checks’ on garments as both work on trade pact
Messages for Bangladesh
Despite Amit Shah, Jaishankar is expected to point out that the numerous rail links – six old ones plus three new ones on which work is currently underway and at least one is likely to be ready by 2021 – as well as the soon-to-be-established air bubble that will expand flights to other parts of the country, not just Kolkata, are new, important ways of incentivising legal migration from Bangladesh into India.
This is the most important aspect of the meeting : the promise of legal migration in the form of jobs — both blue collar and corporate, so that both countries benefit; versus illegal migration — mostly by poor people in search of a better life, but with little benefit from either state.
The bald, unstated message to Abdul Momen is that as the election campaign picks up in Bengal and Assam next year, expect to hear some terribly obnoxious commentary aimed at you in languages you understand – Hindi and Bengali.
A second unstated message to Momen is the treatment of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, which India has more or less consistently ignored, especially during an election campaign – although, to Sheikh Hasina’s credit, she hasn’t allowed this to slide as badly as when BNP’s Khaleda Zia was in power.
But as Jaishankar will point out, look at the positive side. Bangladeshis, world leaders in the textile and garment industry, will soon be able to directly access India’s textiles manufacturing industry in Tirupur via a Dhaka-Chittagong-Chennai flight that will be part of the air bubble.
Once the pandemic eases, he will say, the skies are expected to be full of flights, as many as 120 a week, criss-crossing India and Bangladesh. That was the expectation pre-Covid, and both countries will still overcome, Jaishankar will add.
All in all, it’s a tough, balancing act, but one that must be done. PM Modi recognises the incredible importance of a good relationship with Bangladesh – the one with Pakistan is dead, ties with Nepal remain fragile and despite the camaraderie with Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa, he isn’t about to implement the promise of equal rights for the Tamil community under the 13th Amendment.
Also read: How one Bengal village’s Covid fear has stalled ‘Rs 2,000-crore’ India-Bangladesh trade
Special bond
There’s something special about Bangladesh. Because it was created from Pakistan’s womb and because PM Sheikh Hasina, the rest of her Awami League as well as the average Bangladeshi still feel repelled by Pakistan, the Delhi-Dhaka relationship should have been a perfect tie.
Certainly, Modi wants to go to Dhaka later this year, to commemorate the end of ‘Mujib Borsho’ – he was supposed to go earlier this year, but Covid came in the way – and stand in Hasina’s Dhanmondi home, now a memorial to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and look at the fading blood-stains on the walls where each member of Hasina’s family, including her teenage brother, were mercilessly hacked to death that horrible night of 15 August 1975.
Certainly, there’s no other bond like this one, forged in blood, in memory and history. The fact that it has been fraying because of Amit Shah’s comments these past few years must now be firmly dealt with.
That’s what Jaishankar is expected to do at the joint commission meeting. He is expected to put forward the positives – the six rail links, disused since the 1965 war, of which the Modi government brought four back to life, the possibility of linking the Brahmaputra waterway with the Ganga waterway via Bangladesh, the fact that people from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are now working in Bangladesh’s IT sector, that medical tourism and textile industry will soon see a boom with the restoration of flights – and urge Abdul Momen to see that things can only get better.
Both sides are also likely to discuss a meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission that has got bogged down in the Teesta troubles since 2010 and a draft framework for water-sharing on another six rivers – Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
Also read: China takes Bangladesh into its embrace now as Delhi-Dhaka ties go downhill
Bring ties back on track
Certainly, Modi wants this done. He must realise that Amit Shah’s comments have upset a proud people. He wants this ended. The damage cannot be allowed to come in the way of what promises to be a beautiful friendship.
Moreover, with Pranab Mukherjee gone – a man who knew more about Bangladesh than any other Indian alive – the temptation of Modi’s BJP supplanting the Congress as the prime identifier is also strong. Surely, the PM will want to give in to this temptation.
Jaishankar-Momen may announce a new mechanism to oversee that all connectivity projects are completed in a time-bound manner, that the “chalta hai” days of Indian companies struggling to complete things is over, and that they are indeed ready to compete with the Chinese with whom Bangladesh is forging a brand new relationship.
Both sides understand the incredible importance of this meeting. As Momen told journalists in Dhaka Monday, “India is our neighbour and best friend. We have many things to discuss.”
Views are personal.
Bangladesh will exploit India in the name of good relations. They will never be friend to Indians because they hate Hindus. They want all their illegals to get Indian citizenships. Kick them out, India does not want any relations with them.
Muslims used to be about 8 percent of the population of West Bengal in 1947 but to day they are 30 percent. That cannot happen without massive illegal immigration from Bangladesh. We Hindus are worried. We lost East Bengal now we are about to lose also West Bengal.
Few points that warrant attention 1. The external affairs minister does not need to take any advise offered by any tom, dick & harry. He knows what he needs to do. 2. As this biased author herself admits, Amit shah called illegal bangladeshis termites, which is absolutely spot on keeping with his duties as Home minister. 3. These 2 things are completely unrelated. 4. The real issue is that rise of Bjp has made all these power brokers, leftists, liberals, islamic fanaticism apologists completely irrelevant. This is how they vent out that frustration, by pretending to write on India Bangladesh relations, and taking a dig at Amit shah. Well, they know, we know & Amit shah knows….. That Amit shah doesnt give a….. Well to maintain deceny lets stop here.
1. Nobody is giving advice to the The external affairs minister. You are wrong to think he knows what he needs to do. If he knew he would have asked Amit Shah to shut, when the latter INVITED THE CHINESE INTO LADAKH BY BOASTING INDIA WOULD TAKE BACK AKSAI CHIN FROM CHINA. Amit Shah is responsible for the Ladakh problem, which the external affairs minister does not how to solve. Was inviting the Chinese into Ladakh in ” keeping with his duties as Home minister” too? 2. What rise of BJP[ are you talking about? THERE IS NO BJP. IT IS MODI, MODI, MODI, AND NOTHING ELSE. It is one man rule. Modi is the party, the cabinet, and the parliament. ONLY HE DOES ANYTHING! 3. Modi doesn’t like dissent, SO HE HAD SAID HE WOULD MAKE BHARAT CONGRESS-MUKT, BUT ENDED UP MAKING IT BJP-MUKT. 2. Well, the world knows, certainly you know & MOST CERTAINLY Amit shah knows that CHINA IS GOING TO KEEP THE INDIAN LAND THAT IT HAS OCCUPIED, AND MODI WOULD GO DOWN IN THE HISTORY TO BE THE SECOND PM AFTER NEHRU TO HAVE LOST THE INDIAN LANND TO THE CHINESE. ALL THIS BECAUSE OF AMIT SHAH THE ……. WELL TO MINTAIN DECENCY LET’S STOP HERE.
Resurging India Bangladesh relations is subjected to Amit Shah apologizing for calling Bangladeshis ” termites” .
India does not want any relations, We want all termites out.
I must say – Shekhar should review Jyoti’s article before they are published. Jyoti’s quality of writing is extremely poor. Certainly Shekhar would not approve of it in the Interest of The Print !
How so. I look forward to the column, read every word of it.
It’s about time that the Indian establishment woke up and smelled the coffee. A friendly and co-operative neighbourhood requires the biggest country in South Asia to be generous and respectful of its neighbours.
There are no excuses for leaders old or young using disparaging language.
One day Hindus in West Bengal will be a minority. . We know what they did to the Hindus in Bangladesh.
This lady became old. Should be kicked out from print. China treats its neighbors like slaves. Atleast india treat them as equal.
It’s impossible to get back bangladesh firstly u don’t go firefighting with neighbours u hv to generate confidence perpetually secondly 3 yrs back internal report had envisioned hindu rashtra in india so bonhomie is out of question and tilt towards China is permanent to safeguard their Islamic nation from Hindus
The diplomatic corps should not have allowed – perhaps acquiesced is a better word – the missteps to be taken in the first place.
It seems that the journalists always supporting and favouring Bangladesh and ignoring India’s interests are hand in gloves with the Bangladeshi Govt to protect the illegal infiltrators from that country. It clearly reflects that they are on payrolls of that country.
Bangladesh aside, Jaishankar should also busy himself with the fallout of Shah’s comment last year that we will take back every inch of Aksai Chin. That fallout is in the form of 50000 PLA troops massed in E Ladakh. Can Jaishankar prove to Wang Yi that this statement is not to be taken at face value ? Is Modi supposed to keep busy picking up the pieces of every intemperate statement made by his senior Ministers ?
BJP and the current Modi government is not really in a state to complain about treatment of minorities in Bangladesh – which has been progressively getting better under Hasina – given its own record at home. Sure Bangladesh does not have a good record of treating minorities but since 2006 we have ranked successively better than India in PEW’s Social Hostilities and Religious Restriction Index. India has been recently placed among “countries of particular concern” by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. India shares that categorization along with the likes of Pakistan and Burma.
Dhaka will not take kindly to any comments that makes it feel like it does not do much for protecting minority rights – especially after how India failed to talk about the treatment of Rohingya Muslim to the Burmese authorities.
Waiting for someone to say how much they hate Bangladesh. Waiting for the Xenophobia guys. Don’t disappoint.