Bangladesh

The India-Bangladesh border has been described as the 'problem area of tomorrow'. The problems include illegal migration, smuggling, and trans-border movement of insurgents, which are serious threats to the security of the country. India shares its longest border with Bangladesh, but this border is not attentively managed. This article analyses the problems arising along this border and reviews the recommendations of a report by the Group of Ministers on Border Management and the measures undertaken by the government to tackle the problems.

• Pushpita Das
• May 2008
• Strategic Analysis

With the discovery of substantial gas in Myanmar's Sittwe region in the Rakhine state, India was keen to acquire gas from some of the new finds in the Shwe gas field, divided in several blocks, of which A-1 and A-2 blocks were closer to India and also estimated to have the best recoverable reserves. Given the geographical location, overland pipelines transiting through Bangladesh are the most cost-effective way of getting gas from Myanmar to India. Despite its initial enthusiasm, Bangladesh backtracked from its earlier willingness to be a partner to the tripartite pipeline.

• Sreeradha Datta
• January 2008
• Strategic Analysis

Muslim countries and Islamic relief organisations along with the rest of the world have shown unprecedented solidarity with the people of Bangladesh after the devastating impact of cyclone Sidr in mid-November. Ironically, many of these Islamic charitable organizations have been involved in fuelling fundamentalism in Bangladesh. The extremist forces, and not surprisingly, are once again trying to capitalize on the miseries of the people and the inadequacies of the state machinery.

• Anand Kumar
• December 27, 2007
• IDSA Comments

After dilly-dallying for a long period Bangladesh finally signed the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) network agreement on November 9, 2007 at the UN headquarters in New York. With this 20 of the 28 countries under the network have joined the agreement. India signed the agreement on June 29, 2007. The remaining eight countries have yet to sign citing "procedural" and "technical" reasons, rather than disagreement about the project. Bangladesh failed to sign the agreement earlier as the previous BNP-Jamaat alliance government was undecided on the issue.

• Anand Kumar
• November 28, 2007
• IDSA Comments

The struggle for control over the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) took a new turn after the reformist faction appointed former finance minister Saifur Rahman as the acting chairman. This decision was taken by the highest policy making standing committee in a five hour meeting on October 29. The committee also made former water resource minister and dissident leader Hafizuddin Ahmed the new Secretary General. However, the meeting allowed Khaleda Zia to remain as the party's chairperson.

• Anand Kumar
• November 06, 2007
• IDSA Comments

Bangladesh faces a shortage of electric power and is planning to meet the shortfall by setting up nuclear power plants. Significantly, this development has occurred at a time when the country is being ruled by a caretaker government with the backing of the military. The military in Bangladesh is trying to carve out a permanent place for itself in governance by creating a National Security Council.

• Anand Kumar
• October 17, 2007
• IDSA Comments

"I want a country where the army cannot arrest anyone without a warrant. I want our political parties to be democratic, transparent and accountable. I want fair and neutral judges. I want the right to vote. I want there to be no such thing as a legal fatwa. I want the war criminals of the 1971 genocide to be tried, condemned and jailed. I want to vote. I want a country worthy of my desh-prem. I want a country." -- Tahmima Anam, New Statesman, January 22, 2007.

• Sreeradha Datta
• August 24, 2007
• IDSA Comments

Bangladesh's Chief of Staff General Mooen U Ahmed's visit to India scheduled in the fourth week of August now stands postponed in wake of the severe floods sweeping across the country. This visit by the army chief was keenly awaited in India and is particularly significant in the light of the political developments that have taken place in Bangladesh ever since the Khaleda Zia-led BNP coalition government demitted office in October 2006.

• Sreeradha Datta
• August 08, 2007
• IDSA Comments

Statistics reveal that the Border Security Force (BSF) has so far, this year, apprehended 8,196 persons who were trying enter India illegally from Bangladesh. The numbers that successfully manage to evade the security forces on the border, is of course, much larger. Apart from the usual suspects, the militants and economic migrants, the recent political turmoil in Bangladesh has also resulted in many Bangladeshi political dissidents and people from the religious minorities attempting to sneak into India to avoid political and religious persecution.

• Pushpita Das
• December 08, 2006
• IDSA Comments

The Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which came to power in 2001, completed its term on October 28, 2006 amidst violent protests that saw 24 people losing their lives. Rejecting the BNP's nominee for the post of Chief Adviser of the caretaker government, the 14 party opposition alliance led by the Awami League (AL) called for a strike to press for an alternate Chief Advisor as well as for electoral reforms. A political crisis has, however, been averted by the country's President, who assumed the additional responsibility of the Chief Advisor.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• November 09, 2006
• IDSA Comments