Despite history, geography

India and Bangladesh have wasted opportunities for shared advantages. The mistake need not be repeated

HISTORY IS FINE (and sometimes not so fine), but our main inspiration and most compelling reason for inter-state cooperation between India and Bangladesh lies in our location. Just as countries can be prisoners of geography, so can geography be our liberators — if we have the ability to see it. In the case of India and Bangladesh, we seem to have singularly failed to do so.

For Bangladesh, India is one of its two neighbours. But that does not tell the whole story. Given its huge all-round presence, it is practically the only neighbour, a giant one with enormous military and economic capabilities, potentially both for good and bad, depending on the nature of the relationship. For India, on the other hand, Bangladesh is one of six contiguous neighbours. Again, that does not tell the full story. Bangladesh is the only neighbour that is practically enveloped within India’s own borders, again with tremendous potential for good and bad.

History tells us that geography has been crucial in determining the destiny of countries. But it remains far below its potential here. In the case of India and Bangladesh, geography has tied us so intricately together that any underestimation of both the potential for mutual prosperity — and mutual harm — can only testify to our collective foolishness. The allure of the positive, and the legitimate fear of the negative, should compel us to always search for solutions to problems, never allowing them to fester long enough to become too difficult to solve.

Seldom has a country contributed more towards the independence of another country as India has for Bangladesh, including the sacrifice of nearly 2,000 Indian soldiers, the sheltering of millions of refugees during the nine months of our liberation war and the enormous economic hardship suffered, so that we Bangladeshis could be free.

So, why have we failed to build a model bilateral relationship? Simply put, we have never given our heart and soul to it. Every time “breakthrough opportunities” come, we fail to seize them and allow our “business as usual” habit to destroy them by failing to think “outside the box”.

Take the case of transit. India has been insisting on it for decades; now that it has come about, progress is slow, piecemeal and held