Editorial Round-Up (15.12.16)

India Bangladesh Relations

16^th December: Vijay Diwas (Victory of Indian forces in Bangladesh sealed liberation of latter)

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km international border and centuries of history and culture.

Sticking points in relations between two countries:

Disputes over territory, water-sharing rights, illegal immigration, cross-border insurgency and terrorism have dogged Indo-Bangladesh relations.

Short History of Land Boundary Agreement:

Three years after the birth of Bangladesh as an independent nation, its then prime minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, signed a Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with then Indian PM, Indira Gandhi, to exchange enclaves and simplify the international border between the two countries.

But it took 41 years for a revised version of this agreement to be adopted.

The work on revising the LBA was begun in 2011 during the visit of then Indian PM, Manmohan Singh, to Bangladesh and the treaty was sealed in June this year, when the two countries swapped tiny islands ending a border dispute that had kept thousands of people in stateless limbo for nearly 70 years.

Recent Upswing in India Bangladesh Relations:

The relations between India and Bangladesh have been on an upswing since Sheikh Hasina Wajed took office in 2009.

The water disputes remains unresolved; but to the credit of both countries, they are not as much of a sticking point as in the past.

There have been encouraging developments on the economic front. Bilateral trade has risen to more than $7 billion from $2.5 billion in this period.

Bangladesh features prominently in India’s Act East Policy and both countries are willing to look beyond the SAARC by being part of groupings such as BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) and BIMSTEC (the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) that extend South Asia’s connectivity with Southeast Asia and China.

Developing Bangladesh and China:

At an annual average of six per cent, Bangladesh has witnessed a steady economic growth over the past decade. Its middle-class values the country’s historic ties with India but is also enthusiastic about relations with other countries in the region.

In October, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Dhaka and extended loans worth $24 billion to Bangladesh, more than 10 times what India gives Bangladesh. India’s relations with Bangladesh have gone well, but much more needs to be done.

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How can India deal with the move away from free movement of labour?

Donald Trump in the USA has taken a strong stand against immigration.

Over in the UK, meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to bring down net migration figures and the easiest way to do this is, of course, to go after international students. As home secretary back in 2012, May had scrapped the UK’s policy of allowing foreign students to work in the country for up to two years after graduation. This seems to have had an adverse impact on the number of Indian students enrolling in UK universities—from 68,238 in 2010, this figure has now fallen to 11,864 in 2016.

The populist shift in countries that have traditionally been meccas for Indian professionals and students means that the burden on New Delhi to navigate these currents is going to grow steadily.

Way Ahead:

Raise the issue at WTO: New Delhi made a good start at the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the US has violated its obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the GATS Annex on Movement of Natural Persons Supplying Services. This is the first time that a WTO member has challenged the immigration laws of another member as a GATS violation, and if the matter moves to the formal dispute settlement panel phase—it is currently in the first consultation phase —the trade body may recommend that the US amend its policies. The recommendation won’t be binding, but if the US doesn’t comply, it may be subject to WTO-authorized trade retaliation.

Encourage flow of firms and professionals into India: Existing Indian regulations not only make it cumbersome for foreign firms to set up shop in the country—as is evident from India’s poor performance in the ease of doing business rankings—but make employment a difficult prospect for skilled foreign nationals as well. India is at a point in its economic growth trajectory wherein it stands to benefit from the expertise of these foreign workers.

Example1: Take the higher education sector, for example. Posts in universities and colleges across the country lie vacant because there aren’t enough professors with the relevant expertise.

Example 2: Similarly, in the high-end defence manufacturing sector that is being pushed aggressively by the Narendra Modi government, there are valid concerns about personnel expertise and training. Here too, foreign workers can play an important role in galvanizing a new ecosystem by bringing in technical know-how and best practices from around the world.

International precedent: USA, through 1965’s Immigration and Nationality Act rolled back the restrictions on immigrations (imposed during Great Depression)—and helped unleash decades of economic dynamism and technological innovation. There are lessons in that for India.

Question: Globally increasing restrictions on labour is an opportunity in disguise for India’s quest for rapid economic growth. Discuss.