India and Bangladesh both are South Asian countries which share common cultural-heritage and aspirations to be developed nations. Both countries are the common member of international organisations i.e. SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA and Commonwealth. India shares longest international boundary with Bangladesh of 4351km. India’s second most spoken language is Bengali which is the official language of Bangladesh. India has a major role in the formation of independent Bangladesh. In 1971, Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi sent the Indian troops during Bangladesh liberation war to help in the emergence of new country and a secular nation, Bangladesh came in existence on 26 March 1971. Both countries have signed agreements to fight against terrorism. India and Bangladesh are the largest trade partners in South Asia. Relations between the two neighbours have up and downs over the period of time. Relations got sored when Bangladesh increased friendship with Islamic nations by participating in the Organisation of the Islamic Nation conference. During cold war both countries went to have different friend allies which affected the cordial relations of the two countries. Ganga water sharing treaty was a milestone in the increasing ties between the both countries.Over the period of time there are many treaties and agreements are being signed by both countries which helped in better relationship building among the neighbours. But there are some issues which become the bone of contention in this friendly relation.

Problems which affected the diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh:

·Farrakka barrage which is being constructed over the Ganga River in Kolkata is an issue of dispute of water sharing. Bangladesh claimed that it doesn’t get good share of Ganga water after the construction of Farraka barrage which affected the agriculture, industry and ecology of the Bangladesh.

·There is a dispute over the sharing of water of Teesta River. Teesta River flows through Assam and West Bengal and merges into Brahmaputra which flows into Bangladesh. In 1983, an ad-hoc agreement was signed between both the countries over the sharing of the Teesta water whereby India and Bangladesh got 39% and 36% of river water respectively. A new treaty came in force which emphasized on equal sharing of Teesta water between both countries. But it was denied by CM of West Bengal Mamta Banerjee stating that equal sharing of river water would severely affect the northern region of the state esp. in drier season. It became the major issue between both the countries.

·Bangladesh also raised objection over the construction of the Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak river in Manipur whose water flows into the territories of the Bangladesh. Bangladesh stated that the construction of dam would have adverse effect on the ecology and India has not taken Bangladesh in confidence before taking decision of construction of the dam. Later on India and Bangladesh agreed to have joint study group which will study the points raised by Bangladesh.

·India faced a major problem of illegal immigration from the Bangladesh over the period of time. As the border between India and Bangladesh is porous, people can easily cross them to enter India. People come to India from Bangladesh to have good standards of life. This illegal immigration has severely affected the India’s demography in various Indian States esp. the states of West Bengal and Assam. There are cases of disputes between native and illegal migrants which raised the concern for the Indian government. To stop the cross border immigration, Indian Border Security Force launched shoot at sight policy which sparked anger in the Bangladesh. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 1000 people were killed by BSF during the period of 2000-2011. Due to this, there are clashes between Border Security Forces of India and Border Guards Bangladesh. Not only illegal immigration is the problem at the border, there are other problems associated with it such as smuggling of livestock, food items and drugs.

·Bangladesh is also resistant to allow India to have passage through its mainland to India’s north east landlocked states. The passage can prove beneficial for both the countries for trade point of view. It can play very strategic role for India during the wartime to get connection to its north eastern part.

Apart from the mentioned disputes between India and Bangladesh there are many agreements and developments which make both countries friend of each other. During 2017 visit of Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina has signed two agreements in the field of defence. Under this agreement both countries will conduct joint military exercise to exchange the knowledge with each other and be prepared for any unforeseen event. India will help Bangladesh to set up defence manufacturing units in Bangladesh to make it self-sufficient in defence equipment and also provide training to Bangladeshi defence forces and share technical and logistic support with them.

Cabinet of Bangladesh has approved the trade policy between the two countries which will allow both the countries to use each other land and ports for the trade related purposes. Both countries will be able to send their goods to third country. This will help India to send its goods to Myanmar through the mainland of Bangladesh. The agreement will be revised automatically after five years if any of the two countries does not have any objection on it.

Bangladeshi students also receive scholarships of ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations) by which meritorious students will be able to study under graduate, post graduate and PhD in the field of traditional systems of medicines like Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy.

Recently Russia and India collaborated to build Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh which will make Bangladesh to enter in the nuclear club. It will be India’s 1st atomic energy venture abroad and it will be commissioned in the year 2023.

In September 2017, Operation Insaniyat was launched by the Government of India to provide relief material to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. It gave relief to Bangladesh as it is also not a self-sufficient country which can provide ample resources to the refugees.

Apart from above listed agreements and developments there are many other treaties and agreements between both the countries which make cordial relations between both the countries. In future India must strengthen ties with Bangladesh as China is making it footprints in the neighbouring countries of India which can prove very harmful for the India.