With the sixth round of the Bangladesh-India Foreign Ministers’ consultative meeting on 29 September, the bilateral relationship between the two neighbours has got a major boost. Normally, the meeting takes place alternately in Dhaka and New Delhi and this time, it was scheduled to be held in the Bangladesh capital. However, owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation, the meeting was held on the virtual platform, jointly chaired by Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Dr A. K. Abdul Momen and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. The meeting provided an opportunity for the two sides to review the developments in bilateral relations, and it suggested steps for further strengthening the relationship.
The meeting was significant as it spiked speculation on strains in the relationship in the aftermath of India implementing the National Register of Citizenship(NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), which led to popular resentment in Bangladesh. Also, the growing Chinese engagement with Bangladesh gave additional ground for such a perception. In this background, the virtual meeting was a reassurance to the close ties between two countries and their commitment to consistently work towards enhancing the warmth and friendship.
India and Bangladesh are tied together by a bond of common culture, history and language. One such bond was the ‘Bangladesh Liberation War’, in which India not only provided humanitarian support to the people of Bangladesh by hosting millions of refugees on its soil but also had boots on the ground. This year marks the golden jubilee of the liberation war, a moment that demands joint celebration. Given the importance of the occasion, the meeting was timely to discuss the ways to celebrate the momentous occasion.
The joint statement, issued after the meeting, detailed various issues discussed, including trade and economic relationship, developmental partnership, resolution of the Rohingya refugee situation, terrorism, and water-sharing from common rivers. The celebration of the golden jubilee of the Liberation War too received significant attention.
A notable feature related to the joint jubilee celebrations was that it included celebrations not only in the two countries but also in select third nations. The meeting decided to jointly host some of the programmes, including the ceremonial military parades in Dhaka, New Delhi/Kolkata, on 16 December, the revival of the historic Mujibnagar-Kolkata road with the inauguration of Swadhinota Shoroni and the establishment of a permanent immigration check-post at Mujibnagar.
Other programmes include a Friendship Fair or ‘Milon Mela’ with the collaboration of the two border guard forces, hosting of seminars in different cities of Bangladesh and India with the participation of the civil society, intelligentsia and war veterans of 1971, and launching of a website on 50 years of victory and friendship, which will have documents of relevance to the 1971 victory for public access.
Another important development has been the decision to establish a High-Level Monitoring Committee headed by the Secretary, Economic Relations Division from the Bangladesh side and the Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh to regularly review the progress in the implementation of various projects under India’s Line of Credit. Bangladesh is the highest recipient of India’s developmental assistance abroad.
Given the importance on the need for enhancing cooperation on water-related issues, the two sides reiterated their commitment to the finalisation of the Interim Agreement for sharing of the waters of the Teesta, pending since 2011. The meeting also highlighted the necessity for the early conclusion of the Framework of Interim Agreement on sharing of waters of six other rivers, namely, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
Further, to tackle the economic fall-out of the Covid-19 at the global and regional levels, the two countries expressed the need for leveraging resources in the two major regional organisations, SAARC and BIMSTEC. Bangladesh had also sought India’s support for strengthening cooperation under the Indian Ocean Rim Association to ensure maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region.
Emphasising the need to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis, India and Bangladesh stressed on the importance of their safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar. Nearly a million Rohingyas, the inhabitants of Rakhine state in Myanmar, are residing in Bangladesh since 2017 after they fled their country following the repression unleashed by the Myanmar security forces.
In the meeting, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister expressed apprehension about the growth of pockets of radicalism if the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees are delayed further. The lingering of the issue may hamper peace and stability of the region, the Minister said, seeking India’s help in this regard.
The meeting added a new momentum to the bilateral relationship. The meeting has paved way for further interaction among the top leadership of the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina are likely to hold a virtual summit in December this year.
Close cooperation between India and Bangladesh, the two growing economies of South Asia, could significantly contribute to the peace and development of the region.
Intra-Afghan talks finally took off in Doha on 12 September, almost six months after they were originally scheduled for. Facilitated and supervised by the United States, representatives of the Ghani government and the Taliban began the historic peace negotiations, aimed at ending the decades-old war, forging a political settlement.
The opening ceremony of the talks witnessed the participation of key regional and international stakeholders as well, with each participant sharing their respective expectations from the process, and reiterating their commitment to bringing enduring peace in Afghanistan. Though the start of the direct talks between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators is a significant development in itself, the road ahead will likely be marred with a number of challenges.
Though the Afghan government and the Taliban have expressed willingness to engage with one another in all sincerity, actual negotiations have not yet taken place, owing to disagreement on the primary means of dispute settlement. Soon after the inauguration, contact groups were set up on both sides, to work out the terms and conditions that negotiations would have to abide by, as well as to prepare the final agenda for talks.
Emerging as a key sticking point was government disagreement with the Taliban demand of making the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence the guiding principle for framing laws in post-conflict Afghanistan. The government expressed concerns that a Sunni interpretation of Islamic law or the sharia might be considered discriminatory by the Shi’ite population that constitutes 15% of all Afghans.
The contentious issue, as per recent reports quoting the Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, is close to being resolved. And even as the reported development indicates a compromise by Afghan negotiators to overcome an obstacle to direct negotiations, their initial concern regarding minorities still looms large.
On the one hand, the Afghan delegation has voiced its determination to protect the rights of women and other marginalised groups, other well as civil liberties for Afghans at large. On the other hand, while the Taliban have promised to protect women’s rights under Islam, they have refrained from specifying how that guarantee would manifest.
Moreover, the treatment meted out to women during the Taliban rule of 1996 – 2001, justified by the insurgent group’s fundamentalist beliefs based on a strict interpretation of the sharia, raises concerns about the future of women in Afghanistan, given that the ideological position of the Taliban is unchanged.
The larger challenge, under which contentious procedural and ideological issues are subsumed, is that of conflicting end states envisioned by the Afghan government and the Taliban, respectively. As conveyed by senior Afghan leadership, the Ghani government seeks to preserve the values of democracy and sovereignty regardless of the kind of power-sharing agreement that emerges out of ongoing negotiations.
Contrarily, the Taliban remains staunchly committed to establishing a Islamic Emirate or an Islamic system of governance in Afghanistan. By definition itself, it is impossible to find complementarities in the two divergent views of the state. Although the Afghan delegation in Doha has reportedly been instructed to exercise flexibility in negotiations, President Ghani’s recent meeting with reporters returning from Doha indicated a strong resolve to protect the existing nature of the state, and the “pluralistic and free” nature of Afghan society.
While the Donald Trump administration is determined to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by mid-2021, the need to maintain a degree of military presence in Afghanistan, even after the official exit, is being widely emphasised. In the absence of US troops, the Taliban will be rendered stronger not only on the battlefield, but also in the political arena.
Given that Taliban violence has continued even as the peace agenda is being pushed by both parties involved, there is no guaranteeing that the insurgent group would mend their ways upon being integrated into the legitimate political structure. In fact, with a significantly reduced presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban would be free to leverage ramped up violence to wrest complete political control of the country from the government.
Once the US exits from Afghanistan, it would have achieved its primary objective, in line with President Trump’s electoral agenda for the upcoming US presidential polls. For the American endgame in Afghanistan is driven by the need to save face after suffering a military defeat at the hands of insurgents, with or without a negotiated political settlement in place.
Against the background of receding US interest in the peace process, which is likely once US forces withdraw substantially, internal disagreements within the Afghan government, may render the peace process susceptible to breakdown. It is worth noting that senior Afghan leadership, barring a few, was not in favour of hurrying to start negotiations with the Taliban to begin with, but were pressurised with the threat of US aid cuts to expedite the process. Furthermore, even with the talks underway, differing opinions on the contours of a potential power-sharing agreement with the Taliban, and the degree of political compromise acceptable to the government, will likely endure.
While there is no doubt that the Afghan peace process is an opportunity for the country to bring a decisive end to the war and establish peace, achieving that end will not be straightforward by any measure, and will require considerable compromise on either side. However, even if a mutually agreeable end state is devised, the implementation of such an agreement will generate complex challenges of its own.
US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Taliban Deputy Leader Mullah Baradar in Doha and chief negotiator Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, amid delay in intra-Afghan negotiations. During the visit, Khalilzad emphasised the need for talks to progress towards building a roadmap for the country’s political future and a comprehensive ceasefire. So far, direct talks between the delegations of the Taliban and the Afghan government have not begun, as the contact groups of both parties have not been able to find common ground on two contentious articles of the agenda for negotiations.
The Asian Development Bank approved a grant worth US$110 million to strengthen the Afghan energy sector, by boosting power supply and facilitating mechanisms for regional energy trade and cooperation. The project seeks to address the problem of chronic power shortage in the country, by increasing the import of power, and effectively ensuring long-term and sustainable supply of electricity
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week has observed that the country’s relationship with China could be fortified through exploring new avenues of cooperation. Prime Minister made this comment in a message to the Chinese leadership on the occasion of the 71st founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. China and Bangladesh are strategic partners and share a close economic and military relationship.
In a bid to strengthen partnership with the US, the first-ever high-level consultation on economic partnership was held this week through a virtual platform. In the meeting, the two sides stressed the need for enhancing cooperation between the government and industry to address the continuously evolving challenges in the field of health and economy. An air transport agreement was signed between US federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) during the meeting. Prominent participants in the meeting were Salman F. Rahman, the adviser for private industry and investment to the PM of Bangladesh, Keith Krach, US unders-ecretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment and Md Shahriar Alam, state minister for foreign affairs.
Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen accused Myanmar of spreading disinformation about Bangladesh. The Minister’s comment followed in response to Myanmar Minister of the State Counsellor’s Office Kyaw Tint Swe’s statement to the UN General Assembly this week. In the statement, Swe claimed that armed groups like Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Arakan Army have used Bangladeshi territory as a sanctuary. He further opined that Bangladesh needs to take steps to prevent ARSA from interfering with the bilateral repatriation process. Rejecting Myanmar’s allegation, the Minister said that such disinformation campaign by Myanmar will hamper the process of repatriation of the Rohingya living in Bangladesh. Since 2017, nearly one million Rohingyas, inhabitants of Myanmar, are living in Bangladesh as they fled to escape atrocities of Myanmar’s security forces.
The government has put its plan for the country to graduate from the United Nation’s category of Least Developed Country (LDC) in 2023 on the back burner due to the Covid-19-induced economic disruptions. Bhutan was supposed to cross the last mile economic challenges in all sectors during the 12th Plan ending in 2023. But the government believes that economies would have gone back by decades and that bringing back the development activities back on track would not be easy.
National Airline carrier, Drukair will resume commercial passenger flights to India by mid-October as Bhutan and India signed Air Travel Bubble Agreement. The arrangement allows operations of flights between the two countries under restrictive conditions as international flights remain suspended amid the pandemic. Bhutan will no longer have to seek special permission to fly into India. The agreement allows Bhutanese, Indians and other nationals with a valid visa in either India or Bhutan to travel between the two countries under certain conditions.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, and Fourth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Namgyal Wangchuck, travelled to different parts of southern Bhutan, to encourage the people and motivate them to remain resilient, as the country continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The King accompanied by Prime Minister, Dr. Lotay Tshering arrived in Jomotshangkha from Samdrup Jongkharwhere he met frontline workers, COVID-19 task force members, and students along the way during the tour. The Fourth Druk Gyalpo visited Tsirang and Gelegphu, as part of a special Royal Tour. His Majesty is accompanied by His Royal Highness Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck.
A CBI court in Lucknow acquitted all the 32 people who were accused of conspiring for the demolition of the Babr iMasqid in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992. Top BJP leaders like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti were amongst the ones accused in the case. Last week, the court ruled that the demolition was not planned and was done by agitated “anti-social elements”. The national opposition party, Indian National Congress has stated that this judgement by the special court is in contradiction with the Supreme Court verdict which held the demolition illegal. The Congress party also urged the Central and the state governments to file an appeal against the judgement of the special court.
A gruesome gangrape and murder of a nineteen years old dalit girl took place in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. There are allegations that the U.P. police officials have mistreated the family of the deceased victim and didn’t handover the body of the girl to the family for cremation. The incident has triggered nationwide uproar and public protests against unabated violence against women and lack of governmental support to the victims and inaction against the culprits. Chief Minister Adiyanath announced the suspension of the top police officials in charge of the case and ordered a probe to be conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The Maldives Correctional Service (MCS), has transferred former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb to house arrest. According to MCS, he was transferred over concerns to his health and was preceded by his accepting all seven charges pressed against him over the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) graft, which cost the state approximately MVR 4 billion in lost revenue. The Stae has charged Adeeb, who was serving as the Minister of Tourism at the time, with two counts of embezzlement, two counts of money laundering, as well as exerting influence for illicit gains, exerting influence to earn illicit gains for another party, and abusing his official position. The last time he was granted house-arrest facility, Addeb had jumped the conditions and escaped to India, but was arrested before he landed on the Indian shores.
Home Minister Imran Abdulla has stated that the Government will not protect drug dealers. This follows an 80-kg drug bust in Addu City yesterday. Police also arrested a drug “kingpin” Abdulla Ibrahim (Abucha), whom critics claimed would go scot free as he belonged to the ruling MDP. “The reason for the success in stopping drug trafficking is because the current government does not protect drug dealers,” the Minister said. He attributed the drug-bus to the skill and capability of the Drug Enforcement Department of police.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has urged all Member states to sign the United Nations' Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).Held in commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Minister Shahid addressed the high-level event of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, noting the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons across the globe, emphasizing the goal as part of the founding ideals of the United Nations. "We urge those states that have not ratified the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons to do so, as soon as possible", he said on the occasion.
All township education department offices have been instructed to inform all school teachers who are assigned to serve at polling stations in all States/Regions in the forthcoming 2020 general elections must arrive at their designated places before 1 October in order to attend training. The school teachers must serve as polling station chief, deputy chief and staff and must be given training for these respective duties. Currently all training had to be suspended because of rising COVID-19 infection cases and authorities are preparing to resume trainings in October. All school teachers who serve as polling station staff will get an allowance of 5,000 kyats each and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other COVID-19 protective gear will be provided.
The Kachin State government, Minister of Immigration and Human Resources Zaw Win, has stated that he had concerns over declining a number of voters in the general elections as the required documents for migrant voters were complex and cumbersome in making their names included in the electoral rolls in their current constituencies. Moreover, the resurgence of COVID-19 would affect the free voting for these voters.
Prime Minister K. P Sharma Oli recently addressed the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, virtually. In his speech, the PM stressed on the necessity to harmonize people’s rights on natural resources and sustained efforts in biodiversity conservation. Given the country’s richness in resources, especially mountain ecosystem, not much has been properly initiated, for example hydropower facilitation and utilization of the mountain rivers. Also, it is an integral part of the ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ agenda of the government.
The non-acceptance of a list containing 512 tradable Nepali goods (under duty free and quota free privilege) to China has been doing the rounds. Nepali traders have mentioned strict policies at play thereby creating problems for the small Himalayan nation in its trade. Nepal also does not have any comparative advantage in this regard. Additionally, the Chinese have allowed only 188 from this list, with an order of labels to be made in Chinese, which is not feasible for the Nepalese traders. Despite bilateral talks, no conclusion could be arrived at.
Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan peacemaker and the chairman of High Council for National Reconciliation in Afghanistan, after completing his three-day visit to Pakistan, said that Kabul and Islamabad are on the same page when it comes to reduction of violence and flexibility in Intra-Afghan peace process. In his first visit after assuming his new role, Abdullah described his visit to Pakistan to seek Islamabad’s cooperation and exploring ties for improving Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations as fruitful. It is pertinent to mention here that Kabul has demanded comprehensive cease fire from the start of Doha peace talks, to which Taliban has not agreed.
Caretaker Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Mir Afzal Khan, said the upcoming legislative assembly polls on 15 November will not require any army deployment. He said that the local police and paramilitary forces are capable for ensuring peace and smooth conduct of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan. He clarified that the army will be called only on a need basis, if a situation arises. He said that the polls would be held in a peaceful atmosphere without the support of the army and would set an example for the rest of Pakistan. The Pakistan army plays an important role in elections to the central as well as the provincial governments and are called the king makers. The caretaker government also said that it will discharge the duties with “honesty and dedication”. The elections in Gilgit-Baltistan were scheduled on 19 August got postponed but due to Covid19.
The police have freed Riyaj Bathiudeen, brother of former Minister Rishad Batiudeen, who is also the founder-leader of the All-Ceylon Makkal Congress, a Tamil-Muslim party, arrested in connection with last year’s Easter serial blasts. The ACMC has five MPs elected in the August parliamentary polls and there are reports of the party extending support to the Government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Condemning the police decision, Colombo Arch Bihop, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, played in at a news conference, earlier police claims that they had evidence against Rijaz in the case. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has since tweeted that there was not deal with Rishad Batiudeen, and he did not approve the foisting of cases for political reasons.
International credit-rating agency Moody’s has downgraded its Sri Lanka rating from B2 to Caa1 with a stable outlook. In its reaction, the Ministry of Finance, State Ministry of Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms, headed by former Central Bank Gvernor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, and the Central Bank, have accused the agency of an “unwarranted and erroneous” finding that suggests a “reckless reaction”. It said that “instead of understanding the economic turnaround as well as awaiting the Budget that is due in November, the downgrade of Sri Lanka at the beginning of the Economic Revival is inexplicable….“This hasty rating action seems similar to the previous premature reckless downgrades by rating agencies in the immediate aftermath of the ending of the internal conflict in 2009 and during the political impasse at the end of 2018. In both instances, the rating actions were proven to be hasty and erroneous, and those actions only resulted in several investors suffering unnecessary loses and missing out on emerging opportunities,” the statement said.
Susannah George, Aziz Tassal and Haq Nawaz Khan , “Shadow Politicians, Clerics and Soviet-Era Fighters: The Taliban’s Team Negotiating Peace”, The New York Times, 1 October 2020.
Harsh V. Pant and Shubhangi Pandey, “How India Came Around to Talking to the Taliban”, Observer Research Foundation, 26 September 2020.
Afghanistan Times, “Chance to Put Bitter Past Behind”, 30 September 2020.
The Daily Outlook Afghanistan, “The Prospect and Contour of Peace Talks”, 29 September 2020.
Lord Zac Goldsmith, “Nature-based solutions: The cost-effective climate change mitigation we need”, The Daily Star, 2 October 2020.
Fahmida Khatun, “How has Bangladesh managed the pandemic-affected economy so far?”, The Daily Star, 29 September 2020.
New Age, “Bangladesh must prioritise national, strategic interests”, 29 September 2020.
Dhaka Tribune, “ED: No, the Rohingya crisis is not a bilateral issue”, 30 September 2020.
Sonam Tshering, “An undeniable exemplary leadership, selfless sacrifices of our Kings”, Kuensel, 3 October 2020.
Kuensel, “Saving Paro from another planning disaster”, 1 October 2020.
Kuensel, “On the farmer’s market”, 2 October 2020.
Akhilesh Mishra, “Labour, farm Bills signal the end of inspector raj, freedom for farmers”, The Indian Express, 3 October 2020.
Rakesh Ankit, “The Prime Minister India almost forgot”, The Hindu, 2 October 2020.
K.P. Shankaran, “The post-truth history of Gandhi’s ‘racism’”, The Indian Express, 30 September 2020.
Jallavi Panchamia and Dileep Mavalankar, “India’s old-age homes have been successful in staving off Covid-19”, hindustantimes, 28 September 2020.
The Hindu, “Undying embers: On Hathras rape”, 2 October 2020
The Hindu, “Justice in ruins: On Babri Masjid demolition case verdict”, 1 October 2020
hindustantimes, “On LAC, India must keep its guard up”, 29 September 2020
Paul Sarno, “So Far, Signs Point to Improved Supervision of Myanmar’s Election by UEC”, The Irrawaddy, 2 October 2020.
Nyein Nyein, “‘Vocabulary Crisis’ Creates Yet Another Hurdle for Myanmar’s Federalism”, The Irrawaddy, 1 October 2020.
Aung Zaw, “UN Rapporteur: Finding the Truth or Furthering False Narratives in Myanmar?”, The Irrawaddy, 30 September 2020.
Ye Min Zaw, “Myanmar’s Election a High-Stakes Game in War-Torn Rakhine State”, The Irrawaddy, 29 September 2020.
Amish Raj Mulmi, “What a 'missing' border pillar tells us about Nepal-China relations,” The Kathmandu Post, 1 October 2020
Achyut Wagle, “Inaction, thy name is government,” The Kathmandu Post, 29 September 2020
Rajendra Suwal, “Keeping tourism alive,” Republica, 27 September 2020
The Kathmandu Post, “Much ado about vaccine”, 30 September 2020
Fahd Husain, “What does Nawaz Sharif want?”, Dawn, 2 October 2020
Zahid Hussain, “Autumn of discontent”, Dawn, 30 September 2020
Muhammad Ali Saddiqi, “Kashmir & Germany”, Dawn, 30 September 2020
Muhammad Zohaib Jawaid, “Pakistan’s V-shaped economic recovery”, The Express Tribune, 30 September 2020
Dawn, “Babri acquittals”, 3 October 2020
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M S M Ayub, “The three decades old devolution debate”, Daily Mirror Online, 2 October 2020
Dr Jayampathy Wickremeratne, “ADM Jabalpur and 20-A: The Big difference”, The Island, 2 October 2020
Malinda Seneviratne, “Narendra Modi spikes the good neighbour drink”, Daily Mirror Online, 1 October 2020
Jayadeva Uyangoda, “The 20-A: Very wrong approach to Constitution-making”, The Island, 29 September 2020
N Sathiya Moorthy, “Holding nations and the UN hostage”, Ceylon Today, 29 September 2020
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N Sathiya Moorthy, “Taking the nation back to the cross-roads”, Colombo Gazette, 28 September 2020
Kumar David, “Populism, depotism and mass psychology”, The Island, 27 September 2020
Kelum Bandara, “Sri Lanka will have access to GSP+ for three more years: EU Ambassadar Deni Chaibi”, Daily Mirror Online, 30 September 2020
Afghanistan: Shubhangi Pandey
Bangladesh: Joyeeta Bhattacharjee
Bhutan: Mihir Bhonsale
India: Ambar Kumar Ghosh
Maldives & Sri Lanka: N Sathiya Moorthy
Myanmar: Sreeparna Banerjee
Nepal: Sohini Nayak
Pakistan: Ayjaz Wani
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