Defence deal with India will not be justifiable
A vehement chorus of disapproval and remonstration has been raging among Dhaka’s civil society actors, newspaper columnists, eminent citizens and diplomats, except a few pro-Indian persons conspicuously devoid of patriotism and unconcerned about national interest, as Delhi is intent on inking a defence deal with Bangladesh against the backdrop of Sino-Indian rivalry. For the record, Sino-Indian relations are likely to become strained as the Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh this week which, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, will “only damage peace and stability of the border areas and bilateral relations.” China views the Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang, an area of cultural and political significance to Tibetans, as potentially destabilizing. [Vide “Arunachal, Cultural and Strategic Flashpoint For Sino-Indian Relations”; refworld.org/docid/587cc \4224.html;13 January 2017].
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has threatened China with war on North Korea; and that war will not only be catastrophic for the people of the Korean peninsula but could drag in other major powers, including China, its ally Pakistan, Russia, Japan and other military powers, including those armed with nukes. It is here that the danger of world war arises. In the event of an absolutely pointless defence deal with India, Bangladesh—-because of its folly—-will be inescapably sucked into a lethal whirlpool of nuclear Armageddon.
Meanwhile, purchasing two Chinese submarines angered Delhi, subsequently the Indian defence secretary visited Dhaka, while Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat had a three-day visit here. Dhaka never had or has any stupid wish—-even in its wildest dream—-to be unfriendly with the closest neighbour India or Myanmar, so why should a question of a deal arise? Can Bangladesh afford to attack India? Besides, India herself imports an enormous number of military hardware—-then is there any logic in buying from an importer?
Furthermore, a defence deal will be a useless proposition, a foolhardy act against the will of the masses. The people here are grateful to India for its cooperation during 1971 Liberation War in which 3 million people made supreme sacrifice. By the same token, India too should be grateful to Bangladesh which is her friend; for this reason India is relieved of the colossal burden of maintaining several divisions of troops and armaments in the Eastern frontier as she used to before 1972.
Bangladeshis are bitter about India for a variety of cogent reasons. These are: frequent killing of Bangladeshi civilians on the borders. In December 2010, Human Rights Watch released a report, “Trigger Happy: Excessive Use of Force by at the Bangladesh Border”, on December 9, 2010, documenting indiscriminate extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment by the Indian BSF troops.
[hrw.org/report/2010/12/09/trigger-happy/excessive-use-force-indian-troops-bangladesh-border
]
How friendly is India? On the 4,096-kilometre long Bangladesh-India international border. 3406 kilometres will be fenced with barbed wire and concrete at a cost of US$430 million, of which 2735 kilometres of the fencing was completed by November 2007. Is it a friendly gesture?
For more than a decade, India has secretly provided arms and money to tribal insurgents —- Chakma and other tribes in the Chittagong Hills—-fighting for an autonomous state in Bangladesh, rebels given sanctuary in this border areas. A senior security official at Agartala, India, confirmed such assistance and said an undetermined number of rebel fighters had stayed along the border near camps of Indian paramilitary forces. “The Government is giving them help,” the official added, without elaborating. [Vide Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them by Sanjoy Hazarika; nytimes. com/1989/ 06/11/ world/ Bangladeshi -insurgents-say -india-is-supporting -them datedJune 11, 1989]
Friendly India’s withdrawal of the Ganges water at Farakka Barrage, which dries up the Padma river from November to June, is an endless agony. India has wanton disregard for co-riparian Dhaka’s water needs as the parched Teesta remains a vast sand dune, like the Padma, from November to June; whopping trade imbalance and so on.
Dhaka is Delhi’s great benefactor. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh ranks fifth (behind the UAE, the USA, Saudi Arabia and the UK) among the top 15 countries from which India draws remittance from her expatriates. Indian expats in Bangladesh remit over $3.7 billion yearly. [Vide Dr. Habib Siddiqui weekly holiday.net/ homepage/ pages/UserHome. aspx?ID =5&date=03/07/2014]
We wish to presume, PM Sheikh Hasina, elder daughter of the nation’s architect Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will not sign any deal or MoU that will be detrimental to Bangladesh’s sovereignty and security, keeping in mind that her motherland is significantly great in terms of population, economy and one of the top defence forces of the world which can take care of themselves. [Vide “Dhaka-Delhi defence pact? No, thanks” by Shahid Islam, Holiday, March 17, 2017]. In sum, Bangladesh is proud of her Army which has a glorious heritage. All told, a highly contentious and sensitive issue like an unnecessary defence deal inviting peril for Dhaka must not be signed as it is fraught with multiple grave dangers.
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx?ID=4&date=0#Tid=13773
This specific thread explains impacts on south asia prospective. Please leave this thread as is.
