Anbarasan Ethirajan
Regional publisher of South Asia
Getty images
Bangladesh imported 50,000 tonnes of Pakistan rice in February
The dramatic political developments of Bangladesh which led Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year, accelerated many surprises – notably the growing proximity of Dhaka with the Pakistani enemy.
Last month, after decades of troubled relationships, the two countries began to exchange directly for the first time, Dacca important 50,000 tonnes of Pakistan rice. Direct flights and military contacts have also been relaunched, visa procedures have been simplified and there are cooperation reports on security issues.
Countries – separated by the land mass of India – have deep and painful historical ties. The animosity between them dates back to 1971, when the Bangladesh – then known as the East Pakistan – launched a fight to obtain the independence of Islamabad. India supported Bengalis rebels during the nine -month war, which led to the formation of Bangladesh.
While the scars of this period are deep, Dhaka had cordial relations with Islamabad between 2001 and 2006, when a coalition of the Nationalist Party of Bangladesh (BNP) and Jamaat-Elami governed the country.
This changed during the Hasina 15th anniversary rule from 2009 – when it was strongly supported by Delhi and maintained a distance from Pakistan. But after she fled to India following mass demonstrations against her government, the links seem to be thawing.
“In the past 15 years, the Pakistani-Bangladesh relationship was on a slightly difficult trajectory,” said Humayun Kabir, a former senior Bangladian diplomat, adding that the relationship now seems to return to that of “two normal neighbors”.
Developments are closely monitored, especially in India, which has a long history of hostile relationships with Pakistan.
X / Shehbaz Sharif
The leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh expressed the desire to strengthen the links
Relations between Dhaka and Delhi have been freezing since the release of Hasina. India has not reacted to Bangladesh’s requests to extradite it to deal with accusations of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her.
Some experts believe that the revival of relations between Dhaka and Islamabad is a strategic decision.
“Pakistan and Bangladesh have a tactical relationship at the moment. Together, they want to represent a decline against the domination of India,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani academic who is a senior member at King’s College in London.
There were other developments outside the start of direct trade.
Muhammad Yunus, head of interim government of Bangladesh, met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on multilateral forums several times in recent months.
And then there is an increasing military relationship.
A high -level Bangladaise military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan in January and had talks with the influential army chief Asim Munir. The Bangladaise navy also participated in a multinational maritime exercise organized by Pakistan off the Karachi coast in February. .
Veena Sikri, who was the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh between 2003 and 2006, describes the growing proximity between Dhaka and Islamabad as an “already seen” moment.
During his mandate in Dacca, she said, India has repeatedly raised the issue of “Indian insurgents are formed within Bangladesh with the support of ISI (Pakistan intelligence agency) and a section of the Bangladaise army”.
“We have even provided evidence to the Bangladaise authorities,” she said.
The authorities of Pakistan and Bangladesh denied these allegations at the time.
The porous long border between India and Bangladesh relatively easily facilitates groups of armed insurgents from the northeast states of India to cross the Bangladesh. But, after the Awami League of Hasina came to power in 2009, she repressed these groups and dismantled their bases.
Thus, the revival of military links between Bangladesh and Pakistan is “a major security problem for India”, explains Ms. Sikri.
“It is not only the military relationship. The Pakistani establishment also revives links with the Bangladais Islamist parties like the Jamaat-E-Islami, who supported Islamabad during the Bangladesh War of Independence,” she adds.
The Yunus administration’s press office refused Indian media reports that senior ISI officials visited Dhaka. He also described information according to which Pakistani agents worked to reopen a camp of a group of Indian insurgents in Bangladesh as “baseless”.
The Pakistani army did not answer BBC questions about India’s concerns concerning the future role of ISI in Bangladesh.
Analysts say that Bangladais politicians know that, given the close economic and linguistic ties, Dhaka cannot afford to take an anti-Indian position.
And despite apprehensions to Delhi, Bangladian diplomats argue that links with Pakistan can only be standardized if the problems linked to the 1971 war are resolved.
Getty images
Bangladesh, supported by the Indian army, obtained the independence of Pakistan in 1971 after months of war
During the war, hundreds of thousands of Bengalis were killed and tens of thousands of women were raped. The war ended with more than 90,000 people of Pakistani security and civil staff going to the joint command of Indian forces and Bangladaises in what is considered a chapter humiliating in Islamabad.
Bangladesh demanded official apologies from Pakistan for the atrocities committed during the war, but Islamabad showed no tendency to do so.
“Pakistan must hold the crimes that had taken place during the independence war,” said Kabir, former Bangladais diplomat. “We also raised the question of the asset division before 1971 between the two nations during several bilateral meetings with Pakistan.”
Even the former Pakistani military officers like Ikram Sehgal accept that “the main stumbling block of bilateral links is the requirement of the Bangladais that the Pakistanis should apologize for what happened in 1971”.
However, Major of the Pakistani army in retirement insists that Bangladesh should also address the issue of Bengalis attacks against Ourdou speakers during the struggle for independence.
“I have witnessed the atrocities that took place against the Bihari speaking of Ourdou (in East Pakistan),” said Sehgal, who now lives in Karachi, BBC.
Getty images
Last year, hundreds were killed in the worst violence that Bangladesh has seen since his war of independence in 1971
While history throws a shadow on the links between Dacca and Islamabad, economists point out that the two countries can first focus on improving bilateral trade, which is currently under $ 700 million (540 million pounds sterling), mainly in favor of Pakistan.
“The population of Pakistan more than 250 million people is a solid market for the long -term Bangladesh,” said Sabrin Beg, an associate professor of economics at the University of Delaware.
Currently, there are constraints, including high prices on both sides and businesses and exporters, visa and travel obstacles, she said. However, Ms. Beging says that “the improvement of bilateral political and commercial relations will facilitate these constraints”.
Some of these questions can be discussed during the visit of the Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar in Dhaka in April. At the end of the year, Bangladesh should hold general elections and a new government could have a different whole of foreign policy priorities.
But, whatever happens, the issues are raised for Delhi, who strongly believes that a stable and friendly bangladesh is necessary to maintain peace and stability in its northeast states.
