India Bangladesh Agreements | 07 Sep 2022

Why in News?

Recently, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has visited India and held talks with Indian Prime Minister.

• India and Bangladesh have signed seven agreements for cooperation in areas ranging from sharing of river waters to space and unveiled new connectivity and energy initiatives.

What are the Key Highlights of the Meeting?

• The two sides have signed seven Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which includes:
  
  • The withdrawal of water from the cross-border Kushiyara river.
    • The agreement will benefit southern Assam in India and the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.
  • Cooperation in space technology.
  • Collaboration on Information Technology systems used by railways in areas such as movement of freight.
  • Science and technology cooperation.
  • Training of Bangladesh Railway personnel and Bangladeshi judicial officers in India.
  • Cooperation in broadcasting between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Television.
• Thermal Power Project:
  • The two nations unveiled the first unit of the Maitree super thermal power project being built in Khulna division of Bangladesh with concessional funding from India.
  • The unit was synchronized with Bangladesh’s power grid in August 2022, and the project will generate 1,320MW, when completed.
• Rushpa Rail Bridge:
  • The 5.13-km Rupsha rail bridge was also inaugurated, a key part of the 64.7-km Khulna-Mongla port broad gauge railway project.
  • The bridge was constructed with an Indian line of credit of $389 million.
  • It will increase connectivity with Mongla, Bangladesh’s second largest port.
• Loans and Advances:
  • India has provided concessional loans worth USD 9.5 billion for development projects in Bangladesh, which includes:
    • Rail connectivity between Khulna and Dhaka, Chilahati and Rajshah.
    • Connecting Mongla port with Darshana-Gede at a cost of USD 312 million.
    • The Parbatipur-Kaunia rail project to facilitate the transportation of fuel is being built at a cost of USD 120 million.
    • Supply of road construction equipment and machinery worth USD 41 million to repair and maintain Bangladesh’s road network.
• Defence Procurement:
  • In 2018, India has extended USD 500 million defence Line of Credit (LoC) to Bangladesh.
  • In May 2018, Defence public sector undertaking of Kolkata had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bangladesh to provide assistance and know-how in the design and construction of warships.
  • Dhaka has shared a wish list of military platforms and systems that its armed forces would like to procure from India.
    • Bangladesh Army has approved procurement of three items:
      • 5 Bridge Layer Tanks (BLT-72) at USD 10 million
      • 7 Portable Steel Bridges (Bailey) at USD 2.2 million
      • 1 Mine Protective Vehicles at USD 2.2 million.
    • Other Proposed Procurements include:
      • Off-road vehicles, heavy recovery vehicles, armoured engineer reconnaissance vehicles and bullet proof helmets.
      • Modernisation and extension of automobile assembling unit for a Bangladesh machine tools factory, supply of explosives, raw materials and tools
    • The Bangladesh Navy has proposed the procurement of a logistics ship, floating dock, oil tanker, and an ocean-going tug.

What is India’s Vision on CEPA with Bangladesh?

• About:
  • The Prime Minister of India has said that India and Bangladesh will soon commence negotiations on a Bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
  • The CEPA is likely to focus on trade in goods, services, and investment, with a key objective being the reduction of the trade gap between the two countries.
    • For the year 2021, India’s imports from Bangladesh stands at USD 1.76 billion and exports to Bangladesh stands at USD 14.09 billion, resulting in a trade gap of USD 12.33 billion.
  • Bangladesh prepares to graduate into a developing nation by 2026, after which it may no longer qualify for trade benefits that it currently enjoys as a least-developed country; it is keen to clinch the CEPA within a year.
• India Bangladesh Trade Relations:
  • In 2021-22, Bangladesh has emerged as the largest trade partner for India in South Asia and the fourth largest destination for Indian exports worldwide.
  • Exports to Bangladesh grew more than 66% from USD 9.69 billion in FY 2020-21 to USD 16.15 billion in FY 2021-22.
  • Despite Covid-19 related disruptions, bilateral trade grew 44% from USD 10.78 billion in 2020-21 to USD 18.13 billion in 2021-22.
  • India’s Exports to Bangladesh:
    • Raw cotton, non-retail pure cotton yarn, and electricity
  • India’s Imports from Bangladesh:
    • Pure vegetable oils, non-knit men’s suits, and textile scraps.

What are some Issues which Both Nations should Resolve?

• There should be efforts to resolve pending issues concerning sharing of waters, resolving continental shelf issues in the Bay of Bengal, bringing down border incidents to zero, and managing the media.
  • PM of Bangladesh held out the hope that the two countries will resolve the issue of sharing the waters of the Teesta River – an agreement on the matter has been pending since 2011.
• Bangladesh has already raised concerns over roll out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, an exercise carried out to identify genuine Indian citizens living in Assam and weed out illegal Bangladeshis.
• Currently, Bangladesh is an active partner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that Delhi has not signed up to.
• In the security sector, Bangladesh is also a major recipient of Chinese military inventory, including submarines.

Source: HT