Train diplomacy: India gives Bangladesh ten diesel locomotives

Overture comes amid warming relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan, China

train-to-bangladesh One of the ten broad gauge locomotives given by India to Bangladesh on Monday | High Commission of India in Bangladesh Twitter handle

India is keeping relations with Dhaka on track with a train. Literally. Ten broad gauge diesel locomotives were handed over to Bangladesh in a virtual ceremony held on Monday.

The locomotives were part of the promise India made—under grant assistance—to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her visit in October 2019.

“In keeping with the requirements of Bangladesh Railway, the locomotives have been suitably modified,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement. The locomotives will help handle the increasing volume of passenger and freight train operations in Bangladesh.

This is the second connectivity coupling between the two countries in the last two weeks. The first-ever cargo container went from Kolkata to Agartala through the Chattogram Port on Thursday marking a “historic achievement”. Bangladesh had opened its port to allow India to transport cargo to the northeast states. The link has the potential for trade within India as well as in the region. It cuts down the distance from Kolkata to Agartala from 1600km to less than 500km.

While the external affairs minister S. Jaishankar emphasised the “depth of time tested India-Bangladesh ties based on mutual trust and respect’’ at the virtual ceremony, the relationship itself is less warm. On the eve of the inauguration ceremony, Bangladesh foreign minister A.K Abdul Momen, reacting to the building of the temple in Ayodhya, told The Hindu, “We will not allow this [temple construction] to hurt ties that India should allow any development that can fracture our beautiful and deep relationship. This is valid for both our countries and I would say both sides should work in such a way so that such disruptions can be averted.”

This is not the first time that Bangladesh has hinted at India’s internal issues spilling over to affect international ties. In January, PM Hasina said in an interview with Gulf News on the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that Bangladesh did not understand why India did it. “It was not necessary," she said while insisting, however, that it was an internal issue.

The growing unease comes at a time when the relationship between Pakistan and Bangladesh is on the mend. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s phone call to PM Hasina—where Kashmir was mentioned—had sparked speculation over the health of Indo-Bangladesh relations.

Bangladesh’s relations with Pakistan had deteriorated after Hasina resumed 1971 war criminal trial, resulting in both sides expelling each other’s diplomats. Normal diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh resumed in February after 20 months of the Pakistan High Commission remaining headless.

A prominent Bangladesh daily published an editorial claiming that the Indian envoy had not got a meeting with Hasina—despite many requests. However, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen met the Pakistan envoy Imran Ahmed Siddiqui on July 1. Siddiqui is on a mission to heal the wounds of the past, according to reports in Pakistan.

The thaw in the relationship also coincides with Dhaka’s decision to allow Chinese investment in an airport deal, one that is being closely watched by South Block

The disenchantment in Dhaka, which has its roots in the National Register of Citizenship (NRC), is far from over. Following the Delhi riots, Bangladesh saw, for the first time in years, protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. The visit was finally called off due to the coronavirus, but not before anti-Indian sentiments on the ground were exposed.

The CAA has been a concern for Bangladesh. When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to India, she sought to voice her concerns to Modi. He assured her that she need not worry. However, ever since the CAA has become a law, Bangladeshis have called off each engagement prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Shringla too was dispatched to smooth ruffled feathers.

For its part, India denies any rift.

"Our relations with Bangladesh are time-tested and historic. We appreciate their consistent stand that Jammu and Kashmir and all its developments are India's internal matters. It's a stand they have always taken," said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava when asked about developments at a press meet in New Delhi on Friday.