A new crisis on the border?

A new crisis on the border?

The uncommon ferocity of the latest clash between some units
of the Bangladesh Army as also Bangladesh Rifles, on one side,
and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), on the other, should
serve as a wake-up call against complacency in bilateral
neighborliness. The death of 16 BSF personnel and at least two
security men of Bangladesh on Wednesday, besides the reports of
sustained tensions on Thursday, can only be seen as the price of
neglect by both countries in keeping their ties in a state of
good repair.

On the whole, the Bangladesh Government, headed by Sheikh
Hasina, seems to have so far adopted a somewhat cautious line in
making sense of the flare-up and its fall-out. The Bangladesh
Foreign Ministry has been reported to have called the Indian
envoy in Dhaka to discuss ways to defuse the rising tensions in
bilateral ties. The general impression conveyed by Dhaka thus far
is one of a desire to de-escalate a growing crisis on the border
with India. Yet, it is too early to predict how Bangladesh will
manage the highly emotive issue, given especially the constant
refrain of the opposition forces in that country about Ms.
Hasina's presumptive pro-India bias.

New Delhi's relationship with Dhaka, unique in many ways with
some signs of maturity too, is still a matter of powerful
emotions that are directly traceable to the circumstances in
which India had facilitated Bangladesh's liberation from
Pakistan. The leaders of India and Bangladesh have had to deal
with problems about the status of border enclaves as also the
freedom of movement of people across what some tend to regard as
a potential frontier of friendship. Of prime relevance to the
current context is the need to revive the spirit of border
coordination talks and of the accord, reached last December, on
the formation of working groups to resolve all boundary related
matters.

-- The Hindu, New Delhi