Which of the following is the major issue between the governments of Bangladesh and India?

(1) Terrorism

(2) River Water Dispute

(3) Economic Relations

(4) Infiltration

2

The governments of India and Bangladesh have had differences over several issues including the sharing of the Ganga and Brahmaputra river waters. The Indian government has been unhappy with Bangladesh’s denial of illegal immigration to India, its support for anti-Indian Islamic fundamentalist groups, Bangladesh’s refusal to allow Indian troops to move through its territory to northeastern India, and its decision not to export natural gas to India or allow Myanmar to do so through Bangladeshi territory. Bangladeshi governments have felt that the Indian government behaves like a regional bully over the sharing of river waters, encouraging rebellion in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, trying to extract its natural gas and being unfair in trade. The two countries could not resolve their boundary dispute for a long while. Despite their differences, India and Bangladesh do cooperate on many issues. Economic relations have improved considerably in the last 20 years. Bangladesh is a part of India’s Look East (Act East since 2014) policy that wants to link up with Southeast Asia via Myanmar. On disaster management and environmental issues, the two states have cooperated regularly. In 2015, they exchanged certain enclaves. Efforts are on to broaden the areas of cooperation further by identifying common threats and being more sensitive to each other’s needs.