Indo-Bangladesh Relations Research Articles

Discourse on The River Teesta’s Role in Indo-Bangla Relations: Anxiety and The Way Forward

The River Teesta, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, is a point of discourse within Indo-Bangladesh relations. The dispute, which was supposed to be resolved in 2011, remains unresolved, due to disagreement on both sides. The political parties in Bangladesh have fostered a narrative, which persuaded the current Awami regime to attract China’s investment, which could serve as a reminder to India of the urgent need to resolve the River Teesta dispute. This study discusses how the discursive power fostered in Bangladesh may jeopardize the Indo-Bangla relations. By applying deductive logic based on document analysis, this study argues that India and Bangladesh should hasten to resolve this most vexing River Teesta-sharing issue, thus reducing an irritant at the bilateral level and boosting river water cooperation at a more general level.

Socio-political and security perspectives of Illegal Bangladeshi migrants in West Bengal: the impact on Indo-Bangladesh relations

Socio-political and security perspectives of Illegal Bangladeshi migrants in West Bengal: the impact on Indo-Bangladesh relations

Transformation of Indo-Bangladesh Relations: From Insecurity to Cooperation in Northeast India

Bangladesh and India are enjoying increasingly close relations in the latter’s northeastern region. This represents a transformation in the two countries’ past relationship, which was characterised by suspicion, distrust and insecurity. This recent change, which began with the arrival of Bangladesh’s current regime in 2009, has resulted in a sense of cooperation, mutual interest and connectivity. This article aims to explain this transformation. The first part of this article presents the traditional sources of insecurity between Bangladesh and India, which resulted in confrontational relations between the two neighbours. The second part then highlights how a convergence of security, economic and energy cooperation has transformed Bangladesh’s relations with India, especially, in its northeastern region.

Perspectives on India-Bangladesh Water Dispute: The Farakka Barrage

The holy waters of Ganga have proved despair rather than a hope in relations between India and Bangladesh. It was after the initial differences in regard to the construction of Farakka barrage between India and Pakistan that the former had taken almost a unilateral decision to construct a barrage, in particular, to save the port of Calcutta from excess silting. Years after the independence of Bangladesh commissioning of the barrage took place and that was the starting point of a series of bilateral negotiations/agreements to determine the share of water that each side was to receive during the lean season of every year. In the start Indo-Bangladesh relations was marked as honeymoon phase of their relationship with no differing perceptions in sight. However it all took a ‘U’ turn when Sheikh Mujib was assassinated in August 1975 and a series of coup reigned in Bangladesh one after another. At a later stage the sharing of waters at Farakka had become more a matter of politics than of economy as the change over suited the military Generals of Bangladesh, who, apart from all, faced the problem of legitimacy. Difference of social, political, economic and religious bases in India and Bangladesh has added fuel to the fire and the waters of Farakka was paraded before the world community as the most blatant example of India’s “intransigence” against a weak and small neighbour. In between the relationship of love and hate the two had signed three agreements on the sharing of Ganga Waters at Farakka respectively in 1975, 1977 and 1996. The paper aims to examine the different aspects of the two sides and mutual understanding thereupon. The study is beneficial for the countries of the region and outside to keep the fight between bordering neighbours away and help promote regional / global peace in the larger interest of humanity.

Asymmetry in Indo-Bangladesh Relations

The relation between the two close neighbors in the modern world is bound to be a relation of complex interdependence in normal situation for varied reasons. In South Asia, Bangladesh and India are not only geographically close neighbors, they also share common history, culture, and economic background. India also helped Bangladesh in its war of liberation from Pakistan in 1971, which prompted the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistani occupation and hastened the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state. Nethertheless, the relationship between these two neighbors is not symmetrically positive. While the reasons for asymmetry in their relations are manifold, a few of them may be worth mentioning here: history, the larger size of India compared to Bangladesh, the nature of political regimes and their leaders in the two countries, the government policies, geography/border, and the economic conditions in both the countries. This paper, while examining the recent issues that have created problems and the possible areas of cooperation and development in the relations between the two neighbors, suggests that a symmetrical relation of complex interdependence between India and Bangladesh will be beneficial for both the countries in many ways.

The Changing Bilateral Contours of Indo-Bangladesh Relations

The Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government came to power in Bangladesh in January 2009. This paper attempts to capture two contrasting phases in the bilateral context in the last decade despite the issues remaining more or less the same. In view of the several outstanding issues that exist between India and Bangladesh the positions adopted by Bangladesh's two main political parties — Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — have changed the contours of the bilateral relations between the two South Asian neighbours. Over the years, bilateral issues have remained unchanged although a new dimension was added in the last decade. Irrespective of the political party in power in Bangladesh, India's policies vis-à-vis its neighbouring country have not altered significantly. Bangladesh, however, has approached India rather differently wherein its two main political parties adopted significantly different policies. The differences these parties had in their domestic agenda also spilled over to the bilateral relations. However, it now appears that both India and Bangladesh have shown keenness to make optimum use of the opportunity to progress towards forging strong and friendly ties.

Bangladesh in 2002: Imperiled Democracy

The year did not bring any improvement in the way government and politics function in Bangladesh. Murder, intimidation, suppression, and harassment of political opponents worsened the atmosphere of vendetta and violence that has marked the country's politics in the past few decades. To tackle the deteriorating law and order situation, the government called in the army in October. The administration appeared to be adrift, caught in factional feuds within the ruling coalition. There were also signs of dynastic succession within the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The economy did not register any significant improvements. Relations with Pakistan improved but Indo-Bangladesh relations hit their lowest point in decades. Citizen disenchantment with political leaders continued to grow.

Bangladesh-India Relations: Issues and Problems

Research Article| November 01 1981 Bangladesh-India Relations: Issues and Problems Ishtiaq Hossain Ishtiaq Hossain Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Far Eastern Survey (1952) 21 (11): 1115–1128. https://doi.org/10.2307/2643997 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Ishtiaq Hossain; Bangladesh-India Relations: Issues and Problems. Far Eastern Survey 2 July 1952; 21 (11): 1115–1128. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2643997 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1981 The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.