CEPA, water sharing, trade: Why Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s India visit matters

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s four-day trip to India is off to a cracking start with a slew of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) being signed with New Delhi on water sharing, railways, space, science and judiciary.

“India-Bangladesh delegation level talks led by PM @narendramodi & PM Sheikh Hasina commence. On the agenda are issues related to connectivity, energy, water resources, trade & investment, border management & security, development partnership and regional & multilateral matters,” the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

On Monday, Hasina met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and visited Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah, a prominent tourist spot in Delhi.

Earlier Tuesday, Modi welcomed Hasina at New Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhawan forecourt where she was accorded a tri-services guard of honour.

Sounding upbeat when speaking to the media, Hasina said any problem can be solved with friendship and that her talks would focus on improving the condition of the people in their respective countries, poverty alleviation and economic development.

Let’s take a closer look at the MOUs signed and what can be expected to be gained:

MOUs signed

1. MoU between the ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and ministry of water resources, Government of Bangladesh on withdrawal of water by India and Bangladesh from common border river Kushiyara.
2. MoU between the ministry of railways (Railway Board), Government of India, and the ministry of railways, Government of Bangladesh on training of Bangladesh Railway personnel in India.
3. MoU between the ministry of railways (Railway Board), Government of India, and the Ministry of Railways, Government of Bangladesh on collaboration in IT systems, such as FOIS and other IT applications for Bangladesh Railway.
4. MoU between the National Judicial Academy, India and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on training and capacity building programme for Bangladesh judicial officers in India.
5. MoU on scientific and technological cooperation between Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India and Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh.
6. MoU on cooperation in the areas of space technology
7. MoU between the Prasar Bharti and Bangladesh Television (BTV) on Cooperation in Broadcasting

Trade and economic assistance

As per Business Standard, Hasina has approved discussions with India on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which is expected to raise Bangladeshi exports to India two-fold and expand the country’s GDP by two per cent.

The talks are still in early stages but CEPA is expected be an important item on Hasina’s agenda, sources told the outlet.

A report in Moneycontrol stated that there is a strong possibility that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) would be finalised during the visit.

“Following Bangladesh’s approval of the draft agreement, India’s approval stands pending. It is quite likely that the CEPA draft shall be discussed by the Prime Ministers when they meet. Both India and Bangladesh stand to gain from signing the CEPA. The agreement enables the countries to retain and secure all benefits in their trade ties, even after Bangladesh’s transition to a developing country. As a result, it is being hailed as a landmark agreement in India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties,” the piece noted.

Business Standard quoted Indian officials as saying they expected talks on economic assistance.

“India has historically helped Bangladesh in its economic progress, and the current regime is known to be a friend of India. If the situation deteriorates, financial assistance can be provided through lines of credit, as had been given earlier to Sri Lanka,” an official said.

“After the ban on wheat [by India in May>, Dhaka has repeatedly requested for wheat, most of which has been allowed to be exported to them, as per our assurances. Similar assistances which are non-financial in nature, will be discussed,” said the Indian official.

Bangladesh is now India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and the bilateral trade has grown from $9 billion to $18 billion in the last five years.

It has also become the fourth largest export destination for India with the exports registering a growth of over 66 per cent from $9.69 billion in 2020-21 to $16.15 billion in 2021-22.

Teesta water-sharing

As per Moneycontrol, India and Bangladesh need to reach a water-sharing arrangement for all the 54 rivers that flow across their borders, to weed out any potential irritants in bilateral relations.

“It is noteworthy in this context that plans to resolve the Teesta agreement, however, remain on the back burner for now. The lack of consensus between the Modi government and the West Bengal state government can be cited as a reason for this indefinite delay in finalising the much-awaited Teesta agreement,” the piece noted.

However, Hasina on Tuesday expressed confidence that all outstanding issues including Teesta water sharing treaty would be concluded at an early date.

“I know as long as Prime Minister Modi is here, Bangladesh and India will resolve all its problems.  The two countries have resolved many outstanding issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation," Hasina said, as per News18.

“Both the countries have achieved remarkable progress in a number of areas, I recall that the two countries have resolved many outstanding issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation and will hope that all outstanding issues including the Teesta water-sharing treaty would be concluded at an early date,” Hasina said, as per Indian Express.

“We thank PM Modi for resolving the issue of Kushiyara river,” she added.

News18 quoted Modi as saying that the Maitree Power Plant will give citizens of Bangladesh access to affordable electricity. He added that the bilateral agreement on water sharing of the Kushiyara river has been signed.

With inputs from agencies

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