Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent comparison of the boundary settlement with Bangladesh to the fall of the Berlin wall a quarter century ago might be surprising for many. The PM, who spent much political capital to get Parliament to approve the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Dhaka, was reacting to the insufficient public appreciation of the unfolding transformation in India’s relations with Bangladesh. The widespread image of South Asia as the least integrated region in the world, one that is mired in perpetual conflict, comes from viewing the region through the prism of India’s troubled relations with Pakistan and Delhi’s inability to build on the possibilities for stronger partnerships with other neighbours, especially Bangladesh.
As a result, pessimism about the subcontinent’s future has been persistent. If the problems with both Pakistan and Bangladesh are rooted in the tragedy of Partition, India’s challenges in the northwest shaped the popular, academic and policy debates on South Asian politics. Modi is set to change this.
His visit to Dhaka this weekend will decisively correct the long-standing bias in Delhi’s foreign policy framework: overestimating the potential for normalisation of relations with Pakistan and underestimating the huge opportunities that Bangladesh has long presented. The bias was evident in India’s regional policy during the UPA decade. Then PM Manmohan Singh persisted with the Pakistan peace process despite repeated setbacks but could not build on the historic breakthrough in relations with Bangladesh that emerged from intensive negotiations between Delhi and Dhaka during 2009-11. Modi appears to be doing the opposite. He has put diplomacy with Pakistan on the back burner and brought Bangladesh to the front. For the PM, this is not a question of choosing between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Contrary to media speculation, Modi’s outreach to Dhaka and the smaller neighbours is not an effort to “isolate” Pakistan. Pakistan is too big and important in global and regional geopolitics to be isolated. Modi has recognised the current political limits on reworking relations with Pakistan and the expansive opportunities with Bangladesh that have been knocking at India’s door. Above all, it is about common sense — move forward where you can and avoid difficult projects that offer few political returns on the diplomatic investment.
The PM reversed the BJP’s position in the last years of the UPA, that the LBA was “unconstitutional”. Modi gets full credit for directly addressing the reservations against the LBA in the BJP, especially in the Assam and West Bengal units, and building a national political consensus in favour of the boundary settlement. He was also quick to accept the international award las – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/south-asias-berlin-walls/#sthash.4tYZ7LPQ.dpuf
Source: Indian Express
