Across the border
WHAT is the view in India of last month's ground-breaking summit meeting between our two prime ministers?
I have been doing the rounds in Dhaka and have a fair sense of public opinion in Bangladesh, but I thought it would be useful to travel to India to see if I could get a sense of public opinion across the border with regard to the new era of cooperation between our two countries.
Thus, when I heard about a round-table discussion on the recent summit being organised by the Jamia Millia Islamic University in Delhi under the aegis of former Indan high commissioner to Dhaka, Veena Sikri, who is now the chair of the university's Bangladesh studies program, I cadged myself an invite.
Of late, I had been hearing a few murmers of discontent that the summit had produced nothing new, that the Indians hadn't reciprocated sufficiently, that the Indians were not taking the summit as seriously as we were, etc. I decided to go see for myself.
What I found was that the Indians at the conference and elsewhere that I interacted with were very well aware of how much political capital Sheikh Hasina has risked on righting the relationship and what was at stake if India does not reciprocate in kind.
The consensus around the table was that Bangladesh had taken serious steps to address India's core concerns, and that more needed to be done in return. The asymmetries that people were grumbling about in Bangladesh were appreciated in India, too. The message has been received loud and clear.
Now, of course, much remains to be done on the implementation front, and if implementation gets snagged up in bureaucratic red tape and the promises and assurances from the summit are not realised, then we are all back to square one.
But one thing that is clear is that the Indians know very well what is at stake. They know the price of inaction or foot-dragging. Whether Bangladesh will ultimately reap the anticipated benefits of Hasina's opening to India remains to be seen, but the Indians cannot and do not say that they are unaware of what is expected of them and of what needs to be done.
India understands that even within Bangladesh there is an asymmetry when it comes to public opinion. The economic case for a more cooperative relationship with India is essentially unanswerable, and there is striking unanimity when it comes to the policy-making, think tank, and business communities on the need for better relations and appreciation for the leadership Hasina has shown to try to bring this about.
But at the popular level, there is more skepticism. Anxiety about India runs deep. The public is open to better relations, but will need to see tangible benefits before it whole-heartedly embraces the new era of détente. It is thus important that India understands the need for visible and tangible signs of progress, and, from what I observed, this understanding is very much there.
Of course, it is not only the Indians who need to understand Bangladeshi political imperatives. We need to understand and appreciate India's political realities, too. Just as we have our anxieties about India, so too does India have its own anxieties about us.
Specifically, we need to be more understanding about the legitimate concerns that exist in India's north-east.
Ultimately, the north-east more than any other part of India would be benefited by détente with Bangladesh, but, at the same time, the north-east is where there is the most anxiety and skepticism with respect to Bangladesh.
The north-east's relation to Bangladesh is the mirror image of our relation to India. Just as we see India as the regional hegemon, in the north-east it is Bangladesh, with our 150 million population and $60 billion economy, that is viewed as the regional hegemon.
We need to understand that the people of the north-east have legitimate anxieties and grievances, and that we need to try and address those to put them at ease.
For instance, we have never really considered that denying India transit rights has hurt, above all, the people from the north-east, and that our stance has been a significant factor contributing to the region's lack of development.
Similarly, simply acknowledging the north-east's concerns about Bangladeshi migration into the region and the consequent demographic implications would go a long way towards building confidence and establishing trust.
Understanding is a two-way street.
Zafar Sobhan is Editor, Editorial & Op-Ed, The Daily Star.
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