India and Bangladesh sign border deal, but fail to agree on water resources

A deal between the leaders of India and Bangladesh has resolved one of the world's most convoluted borders, swapping over 150 enclaves and agreeing on the demarcation of their 4,000km boundary, although they failed to agree on sharing water resources.

In Dhaka on 6th September, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina signed the long-awaited border agreement, which has been a point of contention between the two neighbours since Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971. It settles the status of 162 enclaves (111 Indian enclaves within Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves within India), in which approximately 200,000 people live in a state of limbo without proper citizenship of either state.

The deal is a net loss of around 40 km2 for India; insignificant for a country of its size, but one which has led to accusations by the opposition that the government is abandoning Indian territory. Such criticisms are closely connected with fears about illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the associated danger of infiltration by Islamist militants. These fears, and the torturous and unclear nature of the boundary, have led to border guards killing hundreds over the past decade.

The simplification of the boundary line will help to reduce cross-border tensions; at Dhaka University, Singh said that he is “acutely conscious of the problems that arise due to the incidents on the border. We have now put in place mechanisms which we hope will greatly reduce the scope for such incidents and strengthen mutual trust and goodwill”.

Some of the other deals which Singh and Hasina signed will also help to improve bilateral ties. Under the new accords, India will allow the duty-free import of Bangladeshi textiles; both sides will improve border infrastructure to facilitate trade (while India will assist in providing a rail link between Bangladesh and Nepal); and they will work towards connecting their power grids.

Just as important, however, are the deals which Singh and Hasina did not sign. They failed to agree on the sharing of water resources from the Teesta river. In principle India had agreed to a deal which gave Bangladesh 48 per cent of the river's water, but West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said the deal would harm farmers in the state and cancelled her plans to accompany Singh to Dhaka.

Bangladeshi officials have privately expressed anger at the collapse of the deal, and Singh expressed his disappointment. He was also at pains to point out that India would work to ensure that its Tipaimukh dam project on the Barak river would not harm Bangladesh, as many have feared.

Sources: The Hindu, Voice of America, The Tribune

Census starts in Indian and Bangladeshi enclaves

Sheikh Hasina and Monmohan Singh are expected to discuss the enclaves in September

Census-taking has started in India and Bangladesh's enclaves as on Thursday 14th July, ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh.

Enclaves are pieces of land detached from a country's main territory and surrounded by foreign land. India has 111 enclaves inside Bangladesh and Bangladesh has 51 Bangladesh enclaves inside India.

Folklore has it that the enclaves resulted from the losses incurred by the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Mughal Faujdar of Rangpur gambling on pieces of land during chess matches.

 

Historians, however, believe the situation came out of peace treaties between the kingdom of Cooch Behar, now in the Indian state of West Bengal and the Mughal Empire, which ruled much of South Asia, according to the Times of India.

The current census, which is expected to take a week to complete, is the first of its kind since 1971, when Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan.

In 1974, Bangladesh's prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed a pact with his Indian counterpart Indira Gandhi to exchange the enclaves. The agreement was never followed through on, and poor bilateral relations has meant that the enclave issue remains unresolved.

The enclaves remain hugely underdeveloped, with its inhabitants often lacking access to running water, electricity, health, education and security facilities. In reality, the enclaves inhabitants are largely stateless. They formed the Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee (BBEECC) to agitate for greater rights, and have carried out a number of limited censuses.

The 2011 census will be carried out by 56 teams working in Bangladeshi enclaves and 91 teams in Indian enclaves. Each team is made up of one official from each country.

The number of people in the enclaves is estimate to range from 150,000 to 300,000, although even with this new, focussed survey, getting an exact number of residents will be difficult.

BBEECC's leader Diptiman Sengupta welcomed the initiative, but warned the difficulties the census-takers will face. "Both governments will have to be aware that touts are active to register intruder's name in the list. Similarly, there are several people who reside outside for a living. And several families have lost their land in river bank erosion. Officials will have to take necessary action to sort out these problems to get a genuine account."

Regardless of the technical difficulties the census officials may encounter, the process is undoubtedly a positive step forward for those who live in the enclaves. Singh is due to visit Dhaka in September, and it is thought that he might sign an agreement on the enclaves with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina. It is thought that some of the smaller enclaves may be swapped.

It is understood that residents of the enclave will be allowed to chose which country to be resident of when the enclaves are finally swapped.

Sources: AFP, Times of India

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

India and Bangladesh prepare for land swap as relations improve

India's FM SM Krishna with Bangladesh's FM Dipu Moni in 2009

India and Bangladesh are getting close to solving one aspect of their protracted territory conflict. The two south Asian neighbours are preparing for a land swap of enclaves, or pieces of land which lie in each other’s territory.

The enclaves are pieces of land that the Raja of Cooch Behar and Maharaja of Rangpur won or lost in gambling and military action during the colonial period. After independence in 1947, Cooch Behar became part of India’s West Begal province, while Rangpur became part of East Pakistan, later Bangladesh. It was left to the governments of India and Pakistan to determine which country the enclaves belonged to. Soon after Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, a pact was drawn up between New Delhi and Dhaka to exchange these territories, but it has not happened.

Currently, neither the police nor developmental agencies can enter these enclaves on either side of the border. As a result, they are grossly-underdeveloped, lacking in basic infrastructure and education facilities. A report in India’s Frontline journal called the residents of these areas 'nowhere people' because they are, to all intents and purposes, not citizens of any country.

India has 111 enclaves, or nearly 17,000 acres of land with Bangladesh, while Bangladesh has 51 enclaves of 7,000 acres within India, according to India’s NDTV news agency.

Since India has more land in Bangladesh than vice-versa, India stands to lose about 10,000 acres of land. As such, India's Cabinet Committee on Security will have to approve the exchange.

The two nations will also undertake a count of residents in these enclaves, the first since 1971. Officials from each side are expected to visit their enclaves and residents on both sides will be given the option of which country they want to live in.

The land swap should be hugely beneficial for the people living in the areas, as they will gain better access to amenities, services and policing. The land swap is also expected to de-escalate India’s border conflict with Bangladesh.

Both sides are working to reduce the border tension, and Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna held a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni on Monday 7th February, when they were both in Bhutan for a meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) foreign ministers.

Krishna gave his assurances that India’s Border Security Force (BSF) will not shoot at Bangladeshis crossing the border. The issue of BSF shootings has been prominent since a 7th January incident in which a teenage girl who was crossing the border with her family was shot dead by the BSF.

The Bangladeshi human rights group Odhikar claims that over 1,000 people have been shot dead by the BSF since 2001. The BSF says its men shoot in self defence, as intruders often include armed men engaging in smuggling humans, cattle, arms and drugs.

Along with the enclave swap, the two sides have also had a breakthrough on water issues, and they have agreed to a 15-year accord on sharing the waters of the Teesta and Feni rivers.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh is also expected to visit Bangladesh after the end of the monsoon season. India-Bangladesh relations have been improving since the Awami League-led government took power in Dhaka, but border issues remain the main sticking point.

Sources: Frontline, NDTV, The Hindu, The Economic Times

For more information, see the Menas Borders website, here.