Pakistan approaches Bangladesh while India observes cautiously

The dramatic political developments in Bangladesh who took Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to be expelled last year have thrown many surprises, including Dhaka’s growing closeness with the enemy of Pakistan.

Last month, after decades of relations with problems, the two countries began operating directly for the first time, with Dhaka importing 50,000 tons of Pakistan rice. Direct flights and military contacts have also been revived, visa procedures have been simplified and there are cooperation reports in security matters.

Countries, separated by the terrestrial mass of India, have deep and painful historical ties. The animosity between them dates back to 1971, when Bangladesh, then known as Oriental Pakistan, launched a fight to obtain the independence of Islamabad. India supported the Bengali rebels during the nine -month war that led to the formation of Bangladesh.

While the scars of that 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-E-is-Isami ruled the country.

This changed during the 15 -year rule of Hasina since 2009, when Delhi backed her tightly and maintained a distance from Pakistan. But after fleeing to India after mass protests against his government, the ties seem to be defrosted.

“During the last 15 years, the Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship was in a slightly difficult trajectory,” says Humayun Kabir, a former Bangladesh diplomat of high rank, and adds that the relationship now seems to return to that of “two normal neighbors.”

The developments are being observed closely, particularly in India, which has a long history of hostile relationships with Pakistan.

The relations between Dhaka and Delhi have been frozen since the departure of Hasina. India has not reacted to Bangladesh’s demands to extradite her to face charges of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her.

Some experts think that the revival of relations between Dhaka and Islamabad is a strategic movement.

“Pakistan and Bangladesh have a tactical relationship at this time. Together, they want to represent a rejection against the domain of India,” says Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani academic who is a senior member in King’s College in London.

There have been other developments in addition to starting direct trade.

Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim government of Bangladesh, met with Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in multilateral forums several times in recent months.

And then there is a growing military relationship.

A high -level Bangladesh military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan in January and held conversations with the influential head of the Army, General Also Munir. The Bangladesh 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 to Bangladesh between 2003 and 2006, describes the growing closeness between Dhaka and Islamabad as a moment of “Déjà Vu”.

During his mandate in Dhaka, he said, India repeatedly raised the theme of “Indian insurgents who train within Bangladesh with the support of the ISI (Pakistan Intelligence Agency) and a section of the Bangladesh army.”

“We even provide evidence to Bangladesh authorities,” he said.

Authorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh He denied these accusations at that time.

The long and porous border between India and Bangladesh makes it relatively easy for the armed insurgents of the northeast states of India crosses from Bangladesh. But, after the Awami League of Hasina came to power in 2009, she took energetic measures against these groups and dismantled her bases.

Then, the rebirth of military ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan is “a great security concern for India,” says Mrs. Sikri.

“It is not just the military relationship. The Pakistani establishment is also reliving ties with the Islamist parties of Bangladesh such as the Jamaat-E-Isami, which supported Islamabad during the Bangladesh Independence War,” he adds.

The Yunus administration press office has flatly rejected the reports of the Indian media that the senior ISI officials have visited Dhaka. He has also described reports that the statement of Pakistani agents was working to reopen a camp of an Indian insurgent group in Bangladesh as “without foundation.”

Pakistan’s army did not answer BBC’s questions about India’s concerns about the future role of ISI in Bangladesh.

Analysts say that Bangladesh politicians are aware that, given narrow economic and linguistic ties, Dhaka cannot afford to adopt an anti-india posture.

And despite the arrests in Delhi, Bangladesh diplomats argue that Pakistan ties cannot be normalized unless the problems related to the 1971 war are solved.

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 Pakistani and civil personnel who surrendered to the joint command of the Indian forces and Bangladesh in what is seen as a humiliating chapter in Islamabad.

Bangladesh has demanded a formal apology from Pakistan for the atrocities committed during the war, but Islamabad has not shown inclination to do so.

“Pakistan needs to own the crimes that had taken place during the War of Independence,” said Kabir, the former Bangladesh diplomat. “We had also raised the issue of the division of assets prior to 1971 between the two nations in several bilateral meetings with Pakistan.”

Even former Pakistani military officers such as Ikram Sehgal accept that “the main obstacle in bilateral ties is the requirement of Bangladesi that Pakistani should apologize for what happened in 1971”.

However, the greatest retired from the Pakistan army insists that Bangladesh must also address the issue of Bengalis attacks at Urdu speakers During the struggle for independence.

“I witnessed the atrocities that took place against the people of Bihari speaking Urudu (in eastern Pakistan),” Mr. Sehgal told BBC, who now lives in Karachi.

While history throws a shadow on ties between Dhaka and Islamabad, economists point out that the two countries can first focus on improving bilateral trade, which currently has less than $ 700 million (£ 540 million), mainly in favor of Pakistan.

“The population of more than 250 million Pakistan is a solid market for Bangladesh in the medium and long term,” says Sabrin Beg, an associate professor of Economics at the University of Delaware.

Currently, there are limitations that include high rates on both sides and businesses and exporters face visa and travel obstacles, he says. However, Beg says that “improved political and commercial relations will relieve these limitations.”

Some of these issues can be discussed during the visit of the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Ishaq give Dhaka in April. At the end of the year Bangladesh is expected to celebrate general elections and a new government can have a different set of foreign policy priorities.

But, whatever happens, bets are high for Delhi, which firmly feels that a stable and friendly Bangladesh is necessary to maintain peace and stability in his northeast states.