India’s border with Bangladesh is bigger than that of China and Pakistan, why is Dhaka afraid of fencing on the border?

Tension on India-Bangladesh border-File photo-PTI

India-Bangladesh inherited the border dispute from the British and Pakistan. India also tried to resolve this dispute from its side, when Sheikh Hasina was in power, an agreement was reached between the two countries in 2011 and 2015. But as soon as the power changed in Dhaka, Bangladesh is adopting the path of confrontation.

If we look at the length of the border, Bangladesh is India’s largest neighbour. According to the country’s Home Ministry, India’s border with Bangladesh is 4096.7 km long. Our border with China is 3488 km, Pakistan comes third, with which our border is 3323 km.

India’s 4096.7 km long border with Bangladesh passes through five states. These states are West Bengal (2216.70KM), Assam (263 KM), Meghalaya (443 KM), Tripura (856 KM) and Mizoram (318 KM).

This entire area is plain, riverine, hilly/forest. This area is densely populated and in many areas farming is done till the last inch of the border.

Border dispute inherited from the British and Pakistan

The British and Pakistanis left the border between India and Bangladesh as a legacy. After the partition of India in 1947, the Radcliffe Line became the border between India and East Pakistan. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the same line became the border between India and Bangladesh. It is worth noting that after the partition of India and the then Pakistan, the work of border division started immediately, but its progress was slow. There were many problems in border demarcation

Although some of these border disputes were tried to be resolved by the Nehru-Noon Pact of 1958, subsequent hostility between the two countries left this task incomplete. These disputes continued even further.

At present, the main causes of dispute between India and Bangladesh are fencing on the borders, free movement of people across the border, human and animal trafficking, arms smuggling, drug smuggling, counterfeit currency trading, terrorist activities and infiltration.

India-Bangladesh border -File photo- GETTY

India is sealing its border with Bangladesh to stop smuggling, terrorism and fake currency transactions. For this, strong fencing is being done on the border.

India has fenced 3271 km of the border out of 4096. Now fencing of about 885 km of open border is remaining. Bangladesh wants to fence this remaining area. But Bangladesh keeps creating hurdles in India’s efforts.

What is the reason for the latest dispute?

The recent tension in India-Bangladesh relations is due to this reason. According to BBC, India is doing fencing work on the border in Chapainawabganj, Teen Bigha Corridor, Patnitala of Naugaon and Lalmonirhat. Bangladesh feels that according to the agreement between the two countries, this should not be done. However, from India’s point of view, these are sensitive areas and India fears infiltration from here.

On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Home Ministry summoned India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Verma and expressed its displeasure. Bangladesh alleges that India is trying to fence the border at five places.

Coming out of Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry, India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Verma said, “We have a mutual understanding to fence the border for security reasons. BSF and BGB, the border security forces of both of us have been in constant touch on this issue.”
Pranay Verma said that we hope that this mutual understanding will be implemented and a cooperative attitude will be adopted to combat crime. It is worth noting that India is constantly raising the issue of Bangladeshi citizens being involved in criminal activities on the border.

‘Construction cannot be done within 150 yards of the zero line’

According to BBC, Bangladesh Home Affairs Advisor, retired Lieutenant General MD Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that India will not be allowed to do any defense related work within 150 yards of the zero line on the Bangladesh-India border.

He said, “According to the Bangladesh-India Joint Border Instructions-1975, there is a clear ban on doing any work related to increasing defense capability within 150 yards of the zero line of both the countries.”

According to Jahangir Alam, between 2010 and 2023, India built fences at 160 places, which has increased tensions. He accused the previous Hasina government of giving leniency to India.

Let us tell you that India is making all its borders impenetrable. Apart from installing barbed wires, this includes installing electronic equipment and modern cameras. India is installing special equipment with high power cameras for surveillance at places where it is facing difficulties in installing fences due to rivers.

India-Bangladesh border (file photo)

Meanwhile, a dispute has arisen over the installation of barbed wire fencing on the border at Chauka border in Shibganj Upazila of Chapainawabganj. There was no barbed wire fencing at a distance of 1,200 yards of this border.

It is worth noting that relations between India and Bangladesh were normal during Sheikh Hasina’s rule. India was doing the fencing work by taking Bangladesh into confidence. But after the departure of Sheikh Hasina, the Yunus government of Bangladesh is constantly taking provocative actions. The conflict between the two countries has arisen due to this reason.

Meanwhile, after the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian High Commissioner on Sunday, India has also summoned Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner Nurul Islam in Delhi.

What do experts say?

In fact, after the change of power in Bangladesh, the Yunus government has given impetus to anti-India elements and has granted bail to many anti-India elements imprisoned in jail. These elements are conspiring to spread instability in India. Therefore, India is fencing the border.

Defense expert Brahma Chellaney says, “Millions of Bangladeshis are already living illegally in India. But after Dhaka released terrorists and convicted Islamic fundamentalists, India’s attempt to install barbed wire on the border has received strong opposition from Bangladesh. Bangladesh border guards have tried to stop it.

Important turning points in resolving the border dispute
The India-Bangladesh border dispute took a big positive turn when in 2011, the then Home Minister P Chidambaram signed an agreement with Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun. This agreement is being called the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP). After this, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also visited Bangladesh.

In 2015, during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Dhaka. Here both the leaders signed an agreement. This is called the Land Boundary Agreement.

Under this agreement, 111 border enclaves (land of interior areas) were given to Bangladesh while in return 51 enclaves became part of India. Along with this, the residents of India returned to Indian land and India also got the control of 7,110 acres of land. Similarly, the Bangladeshis living in the enclaves of the Indian part moved there and the land of the Indian enclave present there, which is 17,160 acres, became Bangladesh’s.

Then a census revealed that 51,549 people lived in these 162 (111+51) villages. About 37,334 people live in the 111 enclaves in India, while the population of 51 Bangladeshi villages was 14,215.