From New Delhi by Ramtanu Maitra

Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 25, Number 5, January 30, 1998

From New Delhi By Ramtanu Maitra

Bangladesh sets the ball rolling ister Nawaz Sharif has become mar- The Dhaka summit has raised fresh hopes that India, Pakistan, ginally more stable now, India, which will elect a new government in early and Bangladesh may cooperate effectively. March, is now run by a lame-duck government headed by Prime Minister Gujral. In addition, both the Indian and Pakistani economies are in dire straits. Besieged by domestic and economic The summit of heads of state of that while trade normalization will problems, neither Gujral nor Nawaz Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, held help to ease tensions between India Sharif has been keen to initiate fresh in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 15-16,and Pakistan, it is the resolution of ter- moves. It is entirely to Sheikh Hasina was a personal triumph for Bangla- ritorial conflicts that would further Wazed’s credit that the summit took deshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinalong-term cooperation and real eco- place. It is also important that the sum- Wazed. Her success in hosting the nomic development on the subconti- mit could promise fresh hopes, at a summit under trying circumstancesnent. In this context, views expressed time when financial gloom and doom has not only demonstrated Bangla- by Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff has spread far and wide throughout desh’s coming of age as one of theAdm. Fasih Bokhari, in a recent inter- Asia. policymakers on the subcontinent, but view with the Defense Journal, a stra- The reason behind the Bangladesh has also put forward Sheikh Hasinategic publication based in Islamabad, Prime Minister’s growing confidence Wazed as the only South Asian leader are a clear indication. is the economic performance of her with far-sighted vision.“In the long-term, I would be the country during the last two years. The The summit, billed as a business first to say that Pakistan must integrate most important ingredient of which summit, covered vast amounts of newits economy with the other countries centers around new findings of natural ground. To begin with, India, Paki- in the region. There is no reason why gas in the coastal regions of Bangla- stan, and Bangladesh reaffirmed theirwe should remain isolated from the desh. In recent years, British and goal to set up tariff-free trade in South economic development of this region, American companies, exploring for Asia by the year 2001. The importancethat includes India. I would like to see oil and gas, have estimated that gas of building a modern transport net- India and Iran trading across our soil; reserves in Bangladesh are close to work, one that could promote intra-re-Central Asia and India trading across 120 trillion cubic feet, indicating a gional trade, and link the subcontinent our soil, because that is a part of inte- twelve-fold increase in estimated re- with the East and the West, was also agration into the region which gives our serves over the years. Foreign invest- major topic of discussion. neighbors a stake in our security,” ments to the tune of $200 million have Also, Indian Prime Minister I.K.wrote Admiral Bokhari. been made in the oil and gas sector in Gujral and Pakistani Prime Minister While Admiral Bokhari’s state- the first six months of 1997. And, the Mian Nawaz Sharif have cleared thement indicates a growing lobby at a U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, John path for resuming bilateral talks to re- very high level, yearning for closer Holtzman, estimates that the Ameri- solve the existing conflicts betweeneconomic and social ties and the estab- can investment in Bangladesh could the two nations. As a gesture, Prime lishment of security interdependence rise to $1 billion in the next three years. Minister Gujral has offered to doublebetween two neighboring countries, The gas findings and growing for- the number of freight trains to Pakistan what is perhaps of equal importance is eign direct investments have opened a month from 10-15 at present, to onethe emergence of Bangladesh as a key up doors for industrial and infrastruc- every day. Responding to Gujral’s of- director of future developments in tural development in Bangladesh. fer, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said:South Asia. Prime Minister Hasina Wazed has “Mr. Gujral suggested one train a day. The summit was scheduled for made it clear that unless the other two Why not two to three trains a day fromNov. 23, 1997, but was postponed at major countries in the subcontinent India to Pakistan and vice versa?” the request of the Pakistani Prime participate effectively in the transna- Gujral’s offer and Nawaz Sharif’sMinister. At the time, the governments tional infrastructure and energy devel- response encapsulates the growing de- in both New Delhi and Islamabad opmental plans, the true potential of mand within each country to enhanceseemed shaky and vulnerable. Al- Bangladesh’s development can never trade with its neighbor. It is evident though the government of Prime Min- be fully realized.

EIR January 30, 1998 Economics 9