{"id":39709,"date":"2017-09-29T20:26:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-30T03:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=39709"},"modified":"2017-09-29T20:27:17","modified_gmt":"2017-09-30T03:27:17","slug":"modis-foreign-policy-success-with-bangladesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/modis-foreign-policy-success-with-bangladesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi\u2019s Foreign Policy Success with Bangladesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (l) during a ceremonial reception at Presidential House in New Delhi, April 8. (Prakash Singh\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Given the problems with Pakistan, there has been pressure on New Delhi to keep other frontiers peaceful. One country that India has managed to engage in a positive manner over recent months is Bangladesh. Unlike with Pakistan, improved relations between India and Bangladesh has been a major regional diplomatic success of the Modi government, writes Siddharth Srivastava.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s frequent trips abroad have been a subject of much mirth and parody on social media. Despite efforts within South Asia, India\u2019s equations with Pakistan continues to be volatile; Nepal is another country with which associations continue to be tenuous. Indo-Pak relations plumbed to a new low recently with New Delhi slamming Pakistan at UN General Assembly for promoting terrorism, and labeled the country as \u201cTerroristan\u201d that produces terrorists and exports them all over the world. \u201cIn its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror,\u201d Eenam Gambhir, the first secretary in India\u2019s Permanent Mission to the UN, said in response to Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi\u2019s statement accusing India of \u201cbrutally\u201d suppressing \u201cthe struggle\u201d of the people of Kashmir.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s \u201ccontribution to the globalization of terror is unparalleled. The quest for land of pure has actually produced a \u2018land of pure terror.\u2019 Pakistan is now \u2018Terroristan\u2019 with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism,\u201d Gambhir said. Gambhir is the same officer who stole the limelight last year she took on then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by saying, \u201cThe land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centers of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the problems with Pakistan, there has been pressure on New Delhi to keep other frontiers peaceful. One country that India has managed to engage in a positive manner over recent months is Bangladesh. Unlike with Pakistan, improved relations between India and Bangladesh has been a major regional diplomatic success of the Modi government.<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (l), as the latter arrives for an agreement signing ceremony after a meeting in New Delhi, April 8. (Prakash Singh\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Modi\u2019s Success with Bangladesh<\/b><\/p>\n

The reduced trust deficit between the two countries has translated into significant positive moves in power and hydrocarbon sectors, that have otherwise existed only on paper for many years.<\/p>\n

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently said India and Bangladesh are in talks to lay a pipeline to transport natural gas from Chittagong to Tripura to meet the LPG needs of the remote north-eastern region. \u201cWe are laying a pipeline for transportation of diesel from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parbatipur in Bangladesh. There is a pipeline for carrying diesel from Numaligarh Refinery in Assam to Siliguri. In exchange, we have given the proposal for gas pipeline from Chittagong to Tripura. We are pursuing the matter diplomatically. I will visit Bangladesh soon,\u201d Pradhan said.<\/p>\n

The pipeline if approved by Dhaka will be laid by the side of the rail lines which pass near the Indo-Bangla international border, Pradhan said. The framework of engagement between India and Bangladesh was laid during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s to New Delhi in April. \u201cEnergy security is an important dimension of our development partnership,\u201d Modi said following the signing of a non-binding framework of understanding (FoU) on the hydrocarbon sector that sets the agenda of future co-operation. India has committed to supply of High Speed Diesel (HSD) through the proposed Rs 3.6 billion, 131-kilometre, one million metric ton per annum pipeline that New Delhi has agreed to finance.<\/p>\n

India has also pledged to assist Bangladesh to become a gas-based economy by reducing its reliance on expensive imported fuel oil to generate power and cutting polluting energy sources. Proposals include import of cheaper LNG at the under-construction Dharma re-gassification terminal in Odisha, which will be transported to Dattapulia in West Bengal and further to Khulna in Bangladesh via a 70-km pipeline.<\/p>\n

Regional Momentum<\/b><\/p>\n

Improved relations between India and Bangladesh is likely to brighten the prospects of larger projects such as extending the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and construction of the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India (MBI) gas pipelines.<\/p>\n

Recently, Nasrul Hamid, Bangladesh\u2019s State minister for power and energy said his country is keen to join the TAPI project given the huge domestic demand for gas. According to reports, the MBI project, mothballed for several years due to deteriorating Indo-Bangla relations, has figured in official talks between the two countries, including Modi and Hasina, over the recent months. New offshore discoveries and Myanmar\u2019s desire to tap energy markets beyond just China have helped revive the plans.<\/p>\n

These projects will provide a big push forward to India\u2019s plans to establish a vast network of regional oil and gas pipelines with its neighbors. India\u2019s \u201cHydrocarbon Vision 2030\u201d envisages laying of nearly 7,000 km of pipelines that will connect Sitwe in Myanmar to Chittagong in Bangladesh, the north-east states and West Bengal. \u201cThrough diplomatic channels, India has already tied up to set up an energy cooperation network with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal. All the countries have already agreed to this ambitious mission,\u201d Pradhan said recently.<\/p>\n

With Bangladesh on its side, New Delhi will surely find it easier to take on Pakistan. And the occasions, it seems are going to be many, given the recent exchanges at the UNGA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (l) during a ceremonial reception at Presidential House in New Delhi, April 8. (Prakash Singh\/AFP\/Getty Images) Given the problems with Pakistan, there has been pressure on New Delhi to keep other frontiers peaceful. One country that India has managed to engage in a positive…<\/p>\n

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