Introduction
Bangladesh recently announced a potential $1 billion funding for the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project.i This news has made India uneasy as it fears successful Chinese involvement could disrupt the strategic balance in the region. In response, India sent its foreign secretary to Bangladesh to express interest in funding the project. This put Bangladesh in a tough spot where it must balance development and economic needs with geographic considerations for its neighbours.
Historical Background
The Teesta River, originating in the eastern Himalayas, flows into the Bay of Bengal and has varying flow volumes between seasons. This necessitates an equitable sharing strategy between India and Bangladesh. Several agreements since independence, including one from 13 years ago that proposed a 42.5% to 37.5% share between India and Bangladesh, were attempted but stalled, the most recent one due to opposition from West Bengal’s chief minister.ii Both Bangladesh and West Bengal heavily depend on the Teesta’s water, but the impasse has hindered development in northwestern Bangladesh.
India: Proactive or Reactive?
India’s sudden interest in financing the Teesta project contrasts sharply with its previous indifference. China’s offer to finance the project is not an isolated move but part of a broader strategy to increase its influence in South Asia, filling a void left by India’s neglect of Bangladesh’s development needs.iii This context highlights India’s reactive stance and the missed opportunities that allowed China to step in.
Path Forward
India’s quick response to counter China’s move is expected, aiming to ensure Bangladesh considers India’s concerns. While India warns of China’s strategic ambitions and history of debt-trapping smaller countries, its own credibility is at risk due to a history of delayed and incomplete projects. Bangladesh must navigate India’s strategic concerns while addressing its urgent development needs, such as the annual loss of 1.5 million metrictons of Boro rice due to water shortages in the Teesta barrage area, projected to worsen by 2030 and 2050.ivTo regain trust, India must demonstrate a serious commitment to funding the project with a solid implementation plan and timely funding guarantees.
Conclusion
India and Bangladesh relations have been described at their best for the past decade, so India must prioritise its neighbour in facilitating rather than obstructing its key developmental agenda. It’s this view of generosityand compassion that must inform India’s well-meaning interventionism in its neighbourhood. This is especiallytrue in the context of the recent falling out with the Maldives as opposed to a policy view marked by isolated, random and knee-jerk reactions in response to Chinese ambitions in the region. It would be foolish to allow amanageable problem to snowball and turn into a thorn of contention. Genuine long-term intervention as opposed to reactionary counter moves must define India’s long-term foreign policy especially in a region as important as its immediate neighbourhood so as to not have its neighbours be forced to make tough decisions.v
i Laskar H Rezaul, “China eyes Teesta development project in Bangladesh, India in race too,” HindustanTimes, May 8, 2024,
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/china-eyes-teesta-development-project-in-bangladesh-india-in-race-too-101715173755774.html (accessed on May 23, 2024)
ii Banerji Anuttama, “India Must Settle the Teesta River Dispute With Bangladesh for Lasting Gains,” The Diplomat, April 9, 2021,
https://thediplomat.com/2021/04/india-must-settle-the-teesta-river-dispute-with-bangladesh-for-lasting-gains/ (accessed on May 23, 2024)
iii Abdi Snm, “Teesta Water Sharing: An Indian failure allows China to play knight in shining armour,”Moneycontrol, January 4, 2024
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/opinion/teesta-water-sharing-an-indian-failure-allows-china-to-play-knight-in-shining-armour-11996401.html (accessed on May 23, 2024)
iv Mamun Al Jahid Md, “India’s Teesta River funding: ambition or illusion?,” Asia Times, May 22, 2024
https://asiatimes.com/2024/05/indias-teesta-river-funding-ambition-or-illusion/ (accessed on May 23, 2024)
v Mazumder Uddin Kamal, “Teesta River Project Pushes Bangladesh Into China-India Cold War,” The Diplomat, May 22, 2024
https://thediplomat.com/2024/05/teesta-river-project-pushes-bangladesh-into-china-india-cold-war/
By:
Udyan Negi, Research Intern, USI, CS3