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Home , Jatiya Sangsad, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury

India- Relations

India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as a separate and independent state and established diplomatic relations with the country immediately after its independence in December 1971. India's links with Bangladesh are civilizational, cultural, social and economic. There is much that unites the two countries – a shared history and common heritage, linguistic and cultural ties, passion for music, literature and the arts. This commonality is reflected in our multi-dimensional and expanding relations. India and Bangladesh’s geographical locations complement each other and present an opportunity for both to further develop their connectivity links and economies. In the last more than four decades, the two countries have continued to consolidate their political, economic, trade and cultural relations and have built a comprehensive institutional framework to promote bilateral cooperation.

India and Bangladesh share a 4096.7 km. of border, which is the largest land border that India shares with any of its neighbouring countries, out of which 1116.2 km is riverine. The settlement of the maritime boundary arbitration between Bangladesh and India, as per UNCLOS award on July 7, 2014, paves the way for the economic development of this part of the Bay of , which will be beneficial to both countries. Both countries share 54 rivers, out of which, a treaty is already in existence for sharing of the water and both sides are working for early finalisation of agreements for sharing of water of other common rivers. Both countries are also cooperating in the conservation of the entire Sunderbans ecosystem, which is a common biodiversity heritage.

High-level exchanges, visits and meetings take place regularly between the two countries. After the general elections in India in May 2014 and formation of the new , Speaker of , , on behalf of Prime Minister , participated in the oath taking ceremony of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 26, 2014. Following this, Smt. Sushma Swaraj made her first stand-alone visit to Bangladesh as the External Affairs Minister in the last week of June 2014 and provided further momentum to the close and friendly relationship between India and Bangladesh. Mr. Md. visited India from December 18-23, 2014, which was the first visit by Bangladesh’s ceremonial after a gap of 42 years. The landmark visits of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh in September 2011 and President Pranab Mukherjee to Bangladesh in March 2013, which was his first trip abroad since assuming this post, further strengthened and expanded the close bilateral relations between our two countries.

Bangladesh currently is India’s largest trading partner among SAARC countries. India exports to Bangladesh rose sharply from $ 4.7 billion in 2012-13 to $ 6.03 billion in 2013-14, an increase of 26.35% over the previous year. Similarly, Bangladesh’s exports to India in Q1 (July-September 2014) have increased to US $ 143.954 million from US $ 91.750 million in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Two border haats are already operational with the third one at Srinagar (Tripura, India)-Purba Madhugram (District Feni, Bangladesh) to be inaugurated on January 13, 2015. Construction of the fourth Border Haat at Kamlasagar (Tripura)-Tarapur Kashba () is in progress. Investment by Indian companies (Airtel, CEAT, Marico etc.) in Bangladesh continues to grow with the signing of bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection agreement. For the first time in their post-independence history, India and Bangladesh established inter-grid connectivity for the flow of bulk power of 500 MW between the western electrical grid of Bangladesh (Bheramara in Bangladesh) and the eastern electrical grid of India (Baharampur in India) to facilitate flow of electricity from India to Bangladesh. Prime Ministers of both the countries inaugurated the Bharat-Bangladesh Vidyut Sanchalan Kendra (BBVSK) at Bheramara on October 5, 2013 through video- conferencing.

India has always stood by Bangladesh in its hour of need with aid and economic assistance to help it cope with natural disasters and floods. India has also extended a line of credit of US $ 800 million and US $ 200 million grant to Bangladesh for a range of projects, including railway infrastructure, supply of Broad Gauge microprocessor- based locomotives and passenger coaches, procurement of buses, and dredging projects. US $ 175 million out of the US $ 200 million grant has already been released to Bangladesh in four installments for utilization in projects of priority to Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh had signed a MoU for implementation of Small Developmental Projects in Bangladesh on April 11, 2013. Rs. 45.44 crores had been sanctioned for FY 2014-15 for implementation of Small Development Projects.

India and Bangladesh are well connected by all possible modes of travel and are exploring newer avenues for increasing the connectivity. Major cities of India (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai & Chennai) and Bangladesh ( & Chittagong) are connected by air through several non-stop flights, by both the state owned carriers (Air India and Biman Bangladesh Airlines) and private carriers. On account of shared history of India and Bangladesh, the rail network of both the countries is well linked. At present there are 3 operational inter-country railway links viz., Petrapol (India)-Benapol (Bangladesh), Gede-Darsana and Singhabad-Rohanpur. Three more between Radhikapur-Birol, Karimganj/Mahisasan-Shahbazpur and Haldibari-Chilhati are proposed to be reopened. One new rail link between Akhaura and Agartala is proposed to be built, which is being financed by grant-aid from India. The MoU for construction of this new rail link was signed on February 16, 2013 in Dhaka. The frequency of the bi-weekly passenger train, Maitree Express, which runs between Dhaka & Kolkata is proposed to be increased from two times a week to three times a week with effect from January 4, 2015. Direct bus services are available between Dhaka-Agartala and Dhaka- Kolkata. Both the are working towards starting a bus service between Guwahati-Dhaka via Shillong for which a joint route survey was held in December 2014. Trade and transit through waterways between the two countries is regulated by the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT). There are four routes under the PIWTT and five Ports of Call have been identified in each country to provide facilities to the vessels of the other country engaged in inter-country trade. About 1.5 million metric ton of goods are transported via the Protocol routes per annum. High Commission of India celebrated the Golden Jubilee of India's flagship international development cooperation programme, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) on November 2, 2014, where the President of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest. Almost 800 ITEC scholars have received training in India since 2007. The number of ITEC scholarships has been doubled from 100 every year in 2007 to 215 in 2014. In addition, about 200 scholars under the Technical Cooperation Scheme (TCS) of the Colombo Plan have gone for training since 2007. Besides, scholarships and training programmes under ITEC and TCS, Indian Government also offers scholarships under ICCR, AYUSH, Commonwealth, SAARC and IOR-ARC scholarships/ fellowship schemes. Indian Government is also offering several tailor made courses to Bangladesh Civil Servants (1500 slots), Police, Nuclear, Election Commission Services & Narcotics Personnel. Muktijoddha Scholarship Scheme extended by the Government of India to Higher Secondary-level students (200 scholarships) and Graduate-level students (478 scholarships).

India and Bangladesh are also engaged in regional cooperation through multilateral forum such as SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), BIMSTEC ( Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation) etc. Both sides have also commenced implementation of sub-regional cooperation initiatives along with Nepal and Bhutan.

Given the shared history and commonality of language, cultural exchanges form an important bond of friendship between the people of two countries. Special emphasis has been laid on promotion of exchanges in the fields of music, theatre, art, painting, books, etc. A bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) provides the framework for such exchanges. To promote bilateral cultural exchanges, the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was inaugurated at Dhaka in 2010, which regularly organises cultural evenings by Bangladeshi and Indian artists. In the year 2014, 11 cultural troupes from India gave 25 performances in Bangladesh. The IGCC also imparts training to around 2800 persons in a year in Yoga, Hindustani Classical Vocal Music, Hindi, and Bharatnatyam Dance, which is conducted by trained professionals from India.

Useful Resources:

High Commission of India, Dhaka website: http://hcidhaka.gov.in/ High Commission of India, Dhaka Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HighCommissionofIndiaDhaka High Commission of India, Dhaka Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ihcdhaka India Global-AIR FM Gold Program featuring India and Bangladesh Relations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mli10DGyIZ0

***** December 2014