India and Bangladesh MoU in the Field of Disaster Management

In News 

• Recently The Union Cabinet was apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on March 2021 between India and Bangladesh on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management, Resilience and Mitigation.

Salient features of the MoU

• Mutual support and Cooperation: Extend mutual support on the request of either Party at the time of large scale disaster (Natural or human-induced) occurring within their respective territories, in the field of relief, response, reconstruction and recovery.
  • Extend cooperation in the field of advanced information technology, early warning systems
• Information Sharing: Exchange relevant information, remote sensing data and other scientific data and share experience/best practices of disaster response, recovery, mitigation, capacity building for ensuring resilience, etc.
• Training and Exercises: Support training of officials in the field of Disaster management.
  • Conduct Joint Disaster Management Exercises bilaterally between both the countries.   
• Creation of Disaster Resilient Communities: Share standards, latest technologies and tools for creating Disaster Resilient Communities.
• Exchange publications and materials: Exchange publications and materials as textbooks, guidelines in the field of Disaster Management and may conduct joint research activities in the field of Disaster Management, Risk Reduction and Recovery.

Benefits:

• The MoU seeks to put in place a system whereby both India and Bangladesh will benefit from the Disaster Management mechanisms of each other.
• It will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building in the field of Disaster Management.

India-Bangladesh Relations

• Historical:
  •  India enabled erstwhile East Pakistan’s (now Bangladesh) liberation in December 1971 and militarily assisted it to acquire freedom from erstwhile western Pakistan which ordered the genocide of Bangla citizens.
  • During the war, the US and China supported Pakistan and were opposed to India’s assistance to East Pakistan.
  • With support from the USSR, India became successful in liberating Dhaka and handed power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who symbolised political leadership.
  • India was one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh and establish diplomatic relations after its independence.
  • India and Bangladesh share bonds of history, language, culture, and a multitude of other commonalities.

• Security and Border Management : 
  • 51st Director-General Level Talks (DGLT) between Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were held in 2020 in Guwahati. 
  • In addition, border coordination conferences between Regional Commanders of BGB and the Frontier Inspectors General of BSF were also held regularly to discuss the management and security of the India-Bangladesh land border. 

• Defence Cooperation
  • High-level exchanges in the year 2020 include the second edition of the India-Bangladesh CORPAT ‘Bangosagar’ exercise, the Regional Commanders meeting of Coast Guards and the third Annual Defense Dialogue. 
  • The Indian Army has gifted trained horses and dogs to the Bangladesh Army in November 2020.  
  • Muktijoddha related engagements and the annual visit of Muktijoddha on the occasion of Victory Day were undertaken in 2020.
  • Various Joint exercises of Army (Exercise Sampriti) and Navy (Exercise Milan) take place between the two countries.

• Connectivity:
  • Both the governments are undertaking various measures to restore the pre-1965 rail links and other connectivity links that existed between India and Bangladesh. 
  • The two Prime Ministers jointly inaugurated the newly restored railway link between Chilahati (Bangladesh) and Haldibari (India) on 17 December 2020. 
  • To enhance people to people contacts, the frequency of two passenger trains, i.e., Maitree Express and Bandhan Express was increased from 4 days a week to 5 days a week and from one day a week to two days a week respectively from February 2020.
  • The Government of India handed over 10 broad gauge diesel locomotives as part of grant assistance to Bangladesh Railways in a virtual event 
  • In October 2019, both the governments decided to commence Dhaka-Siliguri-Gangtok-Dhaka and Dhaka-Siliguri-Darjeeling-Dhaka bus service to enhance people to people contacts between both the countries and the trial run of Dhaka-Siliguri-Gangtok-Dhaka was also held in December 2019. 
  • Feni Bridge (Maitree Setu) connecting LCS Sub room (Tripura) and LCS Ramgarh (Bangladesh) was jointly inaugurated on a virtual platform by both the Prime Ministers in March 2021.
  • The second addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) was signed for including two new India-Bangladesh Protocol Routes (Sonamura-Daudkandi on river Gomti and extension of Dhulia to Godagiri up to Aricha on river Padma).
  • In pursuance of the policy of the Government of India to further liberalize Indian visa application process and to strengthen people to people contacts, six new Indian Visa Application Centers (IVACs) were opened in Bangladesh.

• Economic and Commercial:
  • Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh.
  • In FY 2019-20, India’s exports to Bangladesh were USD 8.2 bn and imports were USD 1.26 bn.
  • India-Bangladesh CEO’s Forum was launched in 2020 to provide policy level inputs and to facilitate exchanges among the business communities.
  • The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Textile Industry Forum was held to enhance linkages and collaboration in the textile sector.
    • India has extended 3 Lines of Credits (LOC) to Bangladesh in the last 8 years amounting to USD 8 billion for the development of infrastructure.
  • India has also been providing grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure projects like the Akhaura-Agartala rail link, dredging of inland waterways in Bangladesh and construction of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline.

• Power: 
  • Cooperation in the power sector has become one of the hallmarks of India- Bangladesh relations. 
  • Bangladesh is currently importing 1160 MW of power from India. 
  • The Joint Working Group (JWG)/Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on power provides an institutional framework to promote bilateral cooperation in cross border trade of electricity. 

• Capacity Building and Human Resource Development:
  • The Government of India has been training Bangladesh Civil Service officials, police officials and judicial officials at national institutes in India.
  • Bangladesh is an important Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) partner country.
  • The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) awards scholarships every year to students from Bangladesh for pursuing under-graduation, post-graduation and other courses in Indian institutes.
  • Bangladeshi police officials are also being trained at various premier training institutes in India on various modern policing and new investigative techniques of this information age. 
  • Similarly, the Government of India has been extending training for 1500 Bangladeshi judicial officials since 2017 at National Judicial Academy, Bhopal and also at various State Judicial Academies in India. 

• Cultural Cooperation:
  • The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) in Dhaka plays an important role in the celebration of common cultural links between the two countries.
  • Both countries are making efforts to jointly organize several activities to commemorate these two epochal events in India, Bangladesh and in other countries. 
    • The training programs include Yoga, Kathak, Manipuri dance, Hindi language, Hindustani classical music and the cultural programs of renowned artists of India and Bangladesh contribute to the promotion of people to people contacts. 

• Multilateral Cooperation:
  • Both are members of SAARC, BIMSTEC, the Indian Ocean Coastal Regional Cooperation Association and the Commonwealth.
  • For India, Bangladesh has been a key partner in the Neighbourhood First Policy and Act East Policy.
• Cooperation amidst Covid-19:
  • India extended three tranches of medical assistance including surgical masks, Hydroxychloroquine medicine tablets and RT-PCR test kits to Bangladesh.
    • India gifted Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines) to Bangladesh.
  • India has also been conducting various online training modules to train the health professionals of Bangladesh.
  • Both countries also started using side-door container and parcel trains to maintain uninterrupted supply chains during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Both countries have commenced a temporary air travel bubble to facilitate the urgent requirements of travellers of India and Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Concerns

• The countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 caused troubles to the relations as Bangladesh expressed reservations about the Act and has held it unnecessary.
• Failed river water sharing agreements like the Teesta agreement.
  • It was signed in 2011 but has not made any progress due to the political tensions between the state and the central government.
• Pending up-gradation of the Ganga-Padma barrage project.
• Delays in the implementation of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal Initiative (BBIN).
• The Land and Maritime Boundary Agreements and the problem of Bangladeshi civilians being killed at the border have dented relations.

Way Forward

• River water management must be taken seriously and India should integrate the regional dimension into its national policymaking.
• Both countries should develop a long-term joint strategy that will facilitate national identification and generate a system of work permits for the legitimate movement of labour.
• Both must manage and balance their geopolitical realities for the interest of the people. Areas of concern need to be looked into holistically and ratified as soon as possible.
• There is a need for a deeper understanding on both sides of the sensitivities of the India-Bangladesh relationship, even as its many successes are counted and celebrated.

 Source:PIB