Hope it's not a post-dated cheque

Verbal webs continue to be spun by experts, academia, media and even man of the street around Modi's prolific trip to Dhaka. Reactions have ranged from expression of disappointment over lack of progress on some unfinished bilateral agenda through pleas for patience for good outcome to a recital of potentials for win-win between the two countries.

We have reasons to believe that the Indian PM wanted to endear himself to the people of Bangladesh as his parting words- abar ashibo ferey dhan shiri noditir terey- so literally proved. 

True, he has won many friends in Bangladesh, yet he left on a note of unattended expectations in the host country, no denying that. Hopes were nurtured by Bangladeshis thinking that he was ideally suited by virtue of his big electoral mandate to be delivering on them.

The discontents are four fold: 
1. Besides a verbal assurance on Teesta issue, no concrete roadmap was laid out for its resolution. A journalist close to Mamata camp, however, privately confided that there would be no talk on Teesta until after the 2016 state assembly elections. 

2. The Indian PM could have announced, not just zero tolerance to border killings but a halt to the lethal practice altogether. British weekly Economist referred to Modi's drawing of an analogy between LBA and bringing down of the Berlin Wall which triggered an interesting pointer. The journal remarked that the Berlin Wall did not cause as many deaths as the border killings recorded by the BSF over any period of time. 

3. An expectation centered around lifting restrictions on visa and grant of visa on arrival. This is considered key to enhancing people to people relations. Perhaps this is in the works and so is understandably introduction of work permit system to circumvent illegal entries across the border. The agendas may receive in all fairness to the pledge made due attention and need to be placed on a fast track to materialise sooner rather than later. 

4. Bridging the trade imbalance (India's $6 billion versus Bangladesh's $500 million). The redeeming feature here is an understanding forged between Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and its Indian counterpart that they will accept each other's certification and standardisation of tradable goods. This should take care of the much-applied non-tariff barrier facilitating Bangladesh availing itself of duty-free access to the Indian market for all but 25 items. The forbidden list needs to be further curtailed. 

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has conceded that his successor Narendra Modi has been a better salesman, event manager and communicator than him. But then he grumbles, "Many of our initiatives are being repackaged and aggressively marketed as something new." 

Of course, Modi picked up the threads from where they were left off by Manmohan-led fragile UPA coalition government in relation to Bangladesh. Some spadework for accords might have been done during Manmohanji's time; but that was four years ago. Even so, Congress wholeheartedly backed the passage of LBA through the parliament. Some credit goes to it. 

Yet in all this, the overarching fact has been BJP's massive electoral mandate which powered the consensus – building process in India on LBA thus clinching the issue. A robust replication of the same unanimity is needed to bring about positive results on other outstanding issues.

Congress spokesman Anand Sharma critiqued Modi for not taking chief ministers of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya on his trip to Bangladesh. Only Mamata accompanying Modi to Dhaka was bit of a stand-alone lack of 'grace' shown to 'Congressite' chief ministers of the North-eastern states despite their stake in some of the accords signed. 

It is interesting to note that for a change, BNP, even Jamaat, hailed the visit of Narentra Modi. Thus, there was a mini consensus building among Bangladesh parties on greeting Modi and valuing Bangladesh's relationship with India. Although there is a difference in the calibration between consensus building in India and that which is just beginning to take hold in Bangladesh we hope. One must see in this a potential for maturity in dealing with neighbourly relations. 

In fact, mainstream opposition BNP had an amiable tit-a-tat with Modi. Its chairperson Khaleda Zia had a 15-minute exclusive talk with the Indian Prime Minister. Khaleda Zia reportedly held out some assurances about Jamaat, Tareque and extremism but Modi obviously kept his cards close to his chest. It is not known, however, whether she gave any hint of abandoning violent programmes or whether Modi dropped any positive signal about BNP being helped to a space. 

Nevertheless, judging by Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's press statement that his government was supportive of democracy but opposed to fundamentalism and extremism, Indian position on major Bangladesh parties inter se leaves no room for ambiguity. 

The bottom line is that Indian gains have been substantial and derivable beginning from the short run and extending over the future. In contrast, Bangladesh is launched on a long gestation period to reap benefits from the architecture of linkages. More important, she will have to ensure her dues through negotiating skill and leveraging the benefits on a mutually dependent format but without losing her freedom of action. 

Just as India is serving her national interest so must Bangladesh her own. 

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
E-mail: husain.imam@thedailystar.net