Good fences for good neighbours

The escalation of tensions along the India-Bangladesh border in recent days is yet another reflection of the low point to which bilateral ties have fallen under the current caretaker administration in Dhaka. Bangladesh’s expression of concern over India’s efforts to fence the international boundary to stem smuggling and other transnational crimes is misplaced, especially since there have been several attempts by smugglers and traffickers from the Bangladeshi side to transgress the border over the past week amidst attacks on Indian border guards. At a meeting with Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Mohammad Jashim Uddin to discuss the border tensions, Indian envoy Pranay Verma pointed out that New Delhi is committed to ensuring a crime-free boundary and tackling the challenges posed by smugglers and criminals. In this context, the Indian envoy sought a cooperative approach to fighting crimes and called for implementing agreements on border management.

The escalation of tensions along the India-Bangladesh border in recent days is yet another reflection of the low point to which bilateral ties have fallen under the current caretaker administration in Dhaka. Bangladesh’s expression of concern over India’s efforts to fence the international boundary to stem smuggling and other transnational crimes is misplaced, especially since there have been several attempts by smugglers and traffickers from the Bangladeshi side to transgress the border over the past week amidst attacks on Indian border guards. At a meeting with Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Mohammad Jashim Uddin to discuss the border tensions, Indian envoy Pranay Verma pointed out that New Delhi is committed to ensuring a crime-free boundary and tackling the challenges posed by smugglers and criminals. In this context, the Indian envoy sought a cooperative approach to fighting crimes and called for implementing agreements on border management.

One of the key aims of the agreement to fence the India-Bangladesh border is cracking down on smuggling and streamlining the legitimate movement of goods and people. The Indian side has already fenced three-fourths of the total border running more than 4,000 km. A challenging geography — large rivers that periodically flood and keep shifting their course, for instance — and the long stretches that remain to be fenced have made the exercise tedious and prolonged. Stray incidents of violence, including firing, are periodically reported from along the border, especially in West Bengal. There are mechanisms in place to address these issues, and if necessary, these can be revisited to make them work more effectively. New Delhi and Dhaka have covered a lot of ground in this area in the past few decades, including settling the conundrum of enclaves and amicably resolving their maritime boundary in 2014. India is well within its rights to construct fencing in porous sections of the border to prevent transnational crimes; any outstanding issues can be addressed in the upcoming talks between the heads of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

It would be foolish to undo all the achievements of the past and create another point of dispute in a relationship that is already weighed down because of the new political dynamics in Dhaka. More than addressing the immediate irritants on the border, the two sides need to take further steps to arrest the slide in the overall relationship and prevent new areas of divergence.