Foreign affairs and defence experts and academics at a discussion yesterday raised questions about defence collaboration with India and said a defence pact with the neighbouring country was not necessary as Bangladesh would not be benefited.

Any defence pact with India would encourage trust deficit and might also indirectly help spread of radicalisation, they told a roundtable on “New Dimension of Bangladesh-India relations: Problems and Prospects.”

Leading Bangla daily Prothom Alo organised the roundtable ahead of the much talked about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in early April, when the two countries are expected to strike dozens of deals, most importantly a defence pact for collaboration between the armed forces of the two countries.

Speaking at the discussion, they said the defence deal with India came up all on a sudden and none of the two countries disclosed anything about it. They said India was clearly imposing the pact on Bangladesh and urged the government not to sign the deal.

They also said Bangladesh defence had developed on a certain system which was not at all compatible with the Indian system and its hardware. Any defence deal would create unnecessary and extra burden on our armed forces.

The discussants were sceptical of any positive breakthrough in the PM's upcoming visit and said they think India would not deliver on any promise, including the Teesta water sharing agreement, a core issue of Bangladesh.

Speakers were also highly critical of the border killing despite assurance from the highest level of the Indian government that it would be stopped.

Editor of Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman moderated the roundtable.

Former foreign secretaries Hemayetuddin and Touhid Hossain, former ambassador to China Ashfaqur Rahman, former high commissioner to Pakistan Shamim Ahmad, former diplomat Mahmud Hasan, defence expert Maj Gen (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, former ambassador Maj Gen (retd) Jamil D Ahsan, Prof Amena Mohsin and Prof Lailufar Yasmin of International Relations Department of Dhaka University spoke on the occasion.

Taking part in the discussion, Ashfaqur Rahman said relations between Bangladesh and India have to be fair and equal but the problem is most Indians think Bangladesh would not have achieved independence without the support of India.

He said, “India, as our best friend and worst enemy, should ensure water flow in the lean period and not flood us during the rainy season.”

Ashfaq said a tie with China was beneficial as “it provided duty-free market access of over 4,000 items and was not a hypocrite”.

Maj Gen Muniruzzaman said Bangladesh's relations with India had become very imbalanced in various sectors, including trade, and that Bangladesh had not gained any thing from India with the only exception being the Land Boundary Agreement, in which India also benefited.

Expressing concern about the proposed defence deal, he said nobody knows anything about the pact and said it was essential to check each and every clause of the entire pact.

He said Indian defence hardware was not up to international standards and that all concerned must be cautious of defence purchases from India with the line of credit it offered.

Prof Amena Mohsin said India should know the needs of its friend and must not impose anything like a defence deal on Bangladesh because the proposed agreement would further increase trust deficit with India.

She apprehended that this defence deal would increase anti-Indian sentiment as well as increase radicalisation of people. “How can India be our friend if it fences us from all sides,” she said, adding, “Bangladesh needs China for its defence development considering Bangladesh's strategic interest.”

Shamim Ahmad said he did not see any prospect of the Teesta deal being signed during the upcoming visit of the PM, which would upset the people of Bangladesh and have a negative impact on their perception of India.

“If we are excellent friends and if our relationship is so deep, then why do we need a defence agreement? We need detailed discussions and need to know each and everything about the deal before it is signed. This deal is very suspicious … ,” said Maj Gen Jamil.

Former diplomat Mahmud Hasan said Bangladesh needs to proceed with India very carefully, considering its geo-political situation. “One must remember that a Muslim country is surrounded by a non-Muslim country on three sides.”

“The more agreements we sign with India, the more our sovereignty will be eroded. Bangladesh is not a threat to India, so why does it need a defence pact? … the aim of it is to isolate Bangladesh from China absolutely,” he said, adding that India was taking advantage of the political division in Bangladesh and weakness as there is no visible opposition in parliament.

Hemayetuddin said India got a lot of benefits from Bangladesh and thus there is high expectation as to what the PM would bring home from India.

The Indian side has said that the visit would be a landmark but “I have no idea how it could be. Does India want to mean it would be a landmark visit because of the signing of the defence deal or by inking water sharing agreement?” he said.

Touhid Hossain raised questions about the necessity of the defence deal since there was no possibility of a war with India. “Is there any possibility of a war with Myanmar, and will India take the side of Bangladesh if there is really a war with Myanmar?”

He mentioned a recent position India had take at the UN when India refrained from voting against Myanmar on the Rohingya issue. “To me, defence deal with India is absolutely unnecessary. If we sign it, it would be completely to please India.”

Prothom Alo Editor in his introductory speech said there was no alternative to Bangladesh-India relationship. He said there was a huge hype about transit and transshipment and an idea was disseminated that Bangladesh would earn billions of dollars, but there has been no interest from the Indian side in the last six months, despite very low transit fees.

He said it was also said about railway connectivity with Akhaura-Agartala but there was no significant progress. He, however, said there was progress in the energy sector since Bangladesh was importing electricity from India.

Although India has repeatedly assured Bangladesh about bringing the border killing to zero level, killings are still going on and it remains a serious concern for Bangladesh.

He also highlighted the proposed defence pact, purchase of submarines and $24 billion agreement with China, efforts to add Bangladesh in the anti-China alliance, water sharing issue.

http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/defence-pact-not-necessary-1382413