Of concern for India is that trade and maritime ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh appear to be strengthening, with a second cargo ship from Karachi arriving at Chittagong port this week. According to Bangladeshi media reports, the Panama-flagged ship ‘MV Yuan Jiang Fa Zhan’ entered Bangladeshi waters on Sunday afternoon.
The ship, which passed through Karachi, Pakistan and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is carrying a huge load of 811 containers of goods like textile raw materials, sugar as well as essential industrial materials like soda ash, dolomite and marble blocks . and electronic products, Dhaka Tribune and Daily Observer reported.
The development came a day after Bangladesh’s interim leader Professor Muhammad Yunus met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Cairo, Egypt, where Dhaka and Islamabad “agreed to strengthen ties.”
concern for india
Quoting sources, Economist Times has reported that businessmen in Bangladesh are being forced to import goods from Pakistan. It also said that some officials of Bangladesh’s shipping ministry are suggesting to review the India-Bangladesh shipping agreement, which has given India access to Chittagong and Mongla ports.
Chittagong Port is a strategically located docking site in the Bay of Bengal. For years, India has used its ties with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to monitor activities at the Chittagong port, where in 2004, about 1,500 boxes of Chinese ammunition were seized.
The consignment, worth an estimated US$4.5-7 million, was allegedly masterminded by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). This consignment was allegedly to be delivered to ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), a terrorist organization banned in India.
New Delhi is concerned that a resurgence of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh could target India and support insurgent groups in the northeastern states. Adding to India’s concerns, Bangladesh in September removed the clause that required port authorities to physically inspect cargo coming from Pakistan. This makes it easier for Pakistani ships to use sea routes without physical inspection of cargo.
Earlier, the restrictive trade policy under Ms Hasina required goods from Pakistan to be unloaded in Malaysia, Singapore or Sri Lanka and then transferred to other ships destined for Bangladesh. Indian officials kept a vigilant eye on the sea routes connecting Chittagong.
Bangladesh–Pakistan relations
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, who took over as leader of Bangladesh’s interim administration in August, is a staunch opponent of Ms Hasina’s policies, which were fundamentally pro-India and anti-Pakistan. One of his areas of focus since coming to power has been to improve relations with Islamabad.
A major development in this regard was the initiation of direct maritime contact between two former enemies, Muslim-majority countries, which were once one country. In November, the Chinese cargo ship ‘MV Yuan Jian Fa Zhong’ from Karachi reached Chittagong, the first direct maritime contact between the two countries in five decades since the formation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Mr Yunus has also met the Pakistani Prime Minister twice since August. The latest meeting was held on the sidelines of the D-8 summit in Cairo, Egypt.
According to a statement from the office of the Chief Adviser, Mr Yunus stressed the importance of resolving long-standing issues arising from Dhaka’s bloody separation from Islamabad in 1971.
In response, Prime Minister Sharif called Bangladesh a “brotherly country” and expressed optimism on enhancing Islamabad and Dhaka relations and stressed the need for a strategic partnership.
According to the statement from Yunus’ office, the two leaders “also agreed to strengthen relations between the two countries through trade, commerce and sports and exchange of cultural delegations”.
