India and Bangladesh: The Road Towards Common Peace and Prosperity

After a hiatus, relations between India and Bangladesh are back on track again. This period was ushered in with the Awami League government assuming power in Dhaka after the culmination of the much delayed ninth Jatiya Sangsad elections. The bilateral relations received a further boost with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s four-day visit to India on January 10, 2010. It was breakthrough visit for a number of reasons. Not only was it Sheikh Hasina’s first visit to India after taking over as prime minister on January 2009, but it has once one again lent the Indo-Bangladesh relations with a growing sense of optimism. The meetings between the leaders of India and Bangladesh radiated a spirit of goodwill that was singularly lacking in the bilateral context until recently. Apart from the positive atmospherics that this landmark visit has generated, the two sides have set forth a bilateral agenda that, if well implemented, will ensure the process of being development partners is ongoing and is not subject to regime compatibility.