950820

Delhi pressurizing

BD for use of

Chittagong port

ISLAMABAD: India's Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao told the Chief Minister of Tripura that India would continue to pressurise Bangladesh to provide transit facility for its land-locked north-eastern zone, says report appearing in the Indian English daily The Statesman.

The report points out that India had, earlier many times, asked Bangladesh for transit facility for its north eastern region, but without any positive response from Bangladesh.

It goes without saying that arm-twisting and coercion are the accepted techniques of Indian diplomacy towards its weaker neighbours. It is a matter of record that eversince the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country, India has been constantly strangulating that country on various pretexts to make her fall in line. Like all other weaker countries of the region, Bangladesh - a country which came into being as a result of the naked Indian aggression against Pakistan in 1971-is being constantly victimised by India.

The issue of transit facility is perhaps a new addition in a host of other disputes which stand unresolved between the two countries since long. These include; Farrakha Barrage dispute, Border dispute over Tinbegha corridor, dispute over Talpaty and Mahrir Char Islands, dispute over the maritime boundary, Indian involvement in Chittagong Hill Tracks etc.

The sad aspect of the matter is that instead of resolving pending disputes, India always tries to further entangle Bangladesh in the cobweb of its intriguing diplomacy. Bangladesh in fact depicts classical situation of a small country living in the clutches of a big and assertive neighbour. Each new problem is created by India for striking some bargain in the exchange. India, seems determined to turn Bangladesh into an entirely dependent state so as to make it a market for the Indian goods. That is why, relations between India and Bangladesh have never been on a happy note.

The report of the 'Statesman' further reveals that a seminar was recently held in New Delhi in which the top industrialists of India reiterated their demand for the use of the port of Chittagong of Bangladesh for bringing raw material to Tripura. Bangladesh, however, has taken tough stand against Indian unilateral demands aiming at utilising Bangladeshi territory for its own benefits without any quid pro quo. All this firmly establishes the fact that India intends to fulfil its hegemonic ambitions by way of coercion-APP