Introduction

In the Asian continent, South Asia is the southern part of it. This vast area comprises of sub-Himalayan countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, along with neighboring countries such as Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The South Asian sub-continent was prominent for its social, economic, and political unity, and was a land of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. The development of the borders of the Indian sub-continenthas a long colonial history and has repeatedly served as the basis for tensions between neighboring countries. Ancient Bengal was occupied by many colonies, each having a particular clan name such as Banga, Gauda, Pundra and Rarha. When Lord Curzon divided the Bengal Presidency in 1905, the outlines of a separate ‘Bengal’ began to form. However, due to enormous discontent of the people, in 1911 the British abolished the partition of Bengal. After the Muslim League passed the resolutionat its meeting in Lahore on March 23, 1940, some parts of eastern India began to take form. Administrative and political disagreements led to the collapse of its economic and social unity and then the subcontinent was finally divided. On 30th June 1947 the Commission was finally established under Section 3 of the Indian Independence Act of 1947, which divided the British Indians into two separate independent territories, which is India and Pakistan, includingthe west(present day Pakistan)and the east (present day Bangladesh) regions. The India-Bangladesh border was called the India-East Pakistan Border until the East and West Pakistan War of1971. Bangladesh is not just another neighbor for India and is rather unique due to geographical characteristics of the two countries which creates a feeling within Bangladesh of being landlocked by India by all sides. However, soon after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan, a Border Agreement was signed by Delhi and Dhaka in 1974, with the aim of tackling the land boundary issue in the hopes of improving the otherwise spiteful relationship between the two countries.

This research paper aims to understand the geographical characteristics of the India-Bangladesh border, access the trans-border threats emanating from the border for India, and lastly, to evaluate India’s responses to counter these threats in context of the India-Bangladesh political equations.

Geographical Characteristics of India-Bangladesh border

The 1947, partition displaced and divided people of the Indian subcontinent on historical, cultural and religious basis. And, just like all borders of the Indian subcontinent were delineated, even the India-Bangladesh border was delineated and imposed by the British colonials and is a manmade border. Old district maps were used to mark the boundary between India and erstwhile East Pakistan (which is now present-day Bangladesh) instead of an actual field survey. Instead of following the natural barriers, this makes the border circuitous as it meanders through villages, farmlands, and rivers. Thus, making the border very porous and fragile, along with many disputed pockets (Das, 2008). Along with skirmishes among the Border Security Forces (BSF) of both the nations, an unsecured border also creates dozens of other issues and causes a threat to the nation’s national security.

The length of India’s longest border is 4,096.7 kilometers long and it is shared with its neighboring country Bangladesh. The Indian side of the Indo-Bangladesh line goes through five eastern states of India that is West Bengal (2,216.7 kilometers), Assam (263 kilometers), Meghalaya (443 kilometers), Tripura (856 kilometers) and Mizoram (318 kilometers). The whole stretch of the border is a combination of hilly and jungle terrain, along with plains, riversides and low-lying land. These features of the border that are so diverse makes the entire area very sensitive and porous, and these can be best marked comprehensively by three distinct topographies that is flat or plains in (West Bengal, Assam-Barak Valley, Tripura), riverine (about 200 kilometers south of the West Bengal border and 50 kilometers of Assam), hilly or jungle (in Meghalaya) almost without any natural hurdles, densely populated, and cultivation continues to be carried out till the very end of the border(Das, 2008). Construction of proper communicating routes such as roads, and infrastructures like fences and Border Observation Posts (BOPs) for guarding and security of the region is difficult because of uneven steep slopes, forested tracks and thick vegetation. In the form of border pillars, the border line can be seen separating the two countries.

On both sides of the border there are individuals of alike religious, linguistic, cultural and ethnic character residing in the entire border area. They have similar physical characteristics. On account of the expansion of Brahmaputra and other rivers, the depth of the river increases by nearly 30 feet, and strange issues occur in the river border mainly in the Dhubri district of Assam and southern West Bengal as locating permanent Border Outposts (BOPs) becomes troublesome and keeping a check onthe entire stretch becomes nearly impossible. Also, as these rivers section into tributaries during the dry season tracking their courses at night becomes extremely difficult, and areas like ‘Char’ where people reside dry up during the dryseason and during monsoons it submerges. Even though there are people who reside in these areas, but these lands are weather-bound hence, resulting the presence of security forces to be inadequate. Shelter is provided to illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in these char lands and have become a hub of criminal activities. Guarding regions like these are problematic. Physical nature of the boundary such as constant shift of courses of the rivers make it difficult for the boundary to be identified and it becomes easy for infiltrators, and smugglers to enter and cross over to India.

Along the flat and fertile land movement becomes very easy as the border is densely populated, consisting of more than a hundred villages situated along the zero line, and most houses have an opening into Bangladesh. As mentioned earlier, due to ethnic similarities of the people on both sides of the border, it becomes quite a task to identify and differentiate who is from which country as in identifying who are the citizens of India and citizens of Bangladesh. Besides, till date ties of traditional ethnic trans-border and socio-culture can be seen, and this has helped the Bangladeshi migrants to enter India illegally. Therefore, in the border areas of South Bengal, Assam, and Tripura, a huge number of illegal immigrants have arrived. Interestingly, where the ethnic composition of the border population is different from that of North Bengal and Meghalaya, immigration from Bangladesh does not occur because the indigenous population does not allow immigrants from Bangladesh to settle down permanently on their territory(E.N.Rammohan, 2005, pp. 92-93).

Despite several efforts of demarcating the entire India-Bangladesh border in the last four decades since 1971 by both the countries, land disputes in the form of enclaves still remained as these enclaves posed a high risk of security to the country. In Bangladesh there were 111 Indian enclaves (17,158 acres), and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110.02 acres) in India. Historically, enclaves go way back to the expansion of the Mughal Empire into North Bengal in the late seventeenth century and this continued till the time the British established control of the state(Jamwal, Border Management: Dilemma of Guarding the India-Bangladesh Border, 2004, p. 9). Due to the border’s riverine nature, adverse possession took place in some places that left chars after the floods. Under adverse possession of Bangladesh there were 2,853.40 acres of Indian land, and under adverse possession of India there were 2,1554.50 acers of Bangladeshi land (Jamwal, Management of Land Borders, 2002, p. 10). The major issue was during partition due to the vague demarcation of the border, land which followed in Bangladesh was surrounded on three sides by India. The Land Boundary Agreement of 1974 was finally signed by the governments of India and Bangladesh in 2015, and the enclaves were exchanged between the two countries. After which 40 square kilometers were lost by India to Bangladesh, nevertheless this marked a peak in the India-Bangladesh relations history.

Trans-border Threats Emanating from the Border for India and Its Emerging Patterns

Even though the governments of both India and Bangladesh have tried to resolve their long-term border disputes, yet the India-Bangladesh border has always been an issue of controversy between the two nations. As mentioned above India shares her longest land boundary with Bangladesh and due to its challenging geographical characteristics, there are certain threats that the India-Bangladesh border poses to India’s national security. Not only tensions of bilateral relations arise due to uncertain geographically challenging boundaries but tensions and threats like cross-border terrorism, illegal migration of Bangladeshis into India, smuggling, and crime also arises. These issues will be further explained below-

Illegal Migration

Migration has always been a global issue, and even in the future it will continue to be so. People moving across boundaries have played significant roles from time to time in changing the structures of their societies and economies. Migration in today’s time is considered as a kind of new “challenge or security threat”, because it does not only involve issues of personal or human security issues, but it also has implications of internal and international security issues. Illegal immigrants are those immigrants who cross national borders in violation of immigration laws of the destination country(Khanna, 2010).

One of the biggest threats to India’s national security is migration of Bangladeshis into Indian territory illegally. Over the years this issue has been a heated subject of political discussions and problems in the north-eastern part of India, and in the past whenever this issue has been raised by India Bangladesh refused to accept it. According to Roy, Bandyopadhyay and Chakraborty(Rather, 2016, p. 135), there are two causes of migration: “pull forces” and “push forces”. Due to factors like political instability, oppression and persecutions based on religion, demographic pressures, unfavourable conditions of living etc. are some of the push factors that have resulted in the influx of Bangladeshis into India in a large scale, and since independence this trend of migrating illegally from Bangladesh to India has continued. On the other hand, opportunities like employment, higher and better standard of living conditions, better medical and education facilities, availability of land for cultivation etc. are regarded as some of the pull factors attracting migrants from Bangladesh to India. Most importantly due to ethnic and cultural similarities among people from both countries especially in the border states, these migrants develop a sense of belonging.

Although illegal immigration from Bangladesh is recognized, there is no proper estimate of the number of illegal migrants. The estimates vary from 4 or 5 million to 10 or 14 million(Das, 2008, p. 371). However, statistics show that due to the large-scale migration of the Bangladeshi population, the demographic structure of border population has changed, causing social tensions. For example- The Hindu Bengali speaking migrants who have fled from Bangladesh because of religious persecutions, have now marginalised the indigenous tribal people in Tripura. Similarly, over decades even Assam has recorded an unprecedented growth in its population because of illegal migration. The direct consequence of large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh is the politicization of the problem, which has led to a series of agitations against the Bangladeshi settlers and the issue of insurgency in these states(India-Bangladesh Border Management: A Review of Government’s Response, 2008, p. 371).

Along the border districts growth of Muslim population adjoining Bangladesh is seen with apprehension. The growth of radical Islamist organizations in border areas, as well as increasing of madrasas that are the Islamic schools of religious studies are also matters of some serious concern. Lieutenant General (retd) S. K. Sinha, when he was the Governor of Assam in a report submitted to the President of Indiain November 1998, warned that due to uncontrolled immigration from Bangladesh, the culture, politics, natural resources, geography and social structure of the north-eastern states will be in great danger (Bhatt, 2002).

Even though most of these illegal migrants till date continue to serve as cheap labour force in most major cities of India, but decades ago a sizable number of them entering illegally particularly in the north-eastern region of India have now become businessmen and landowners. On the contrary, there are certain political parties against opposing the illegal migration from Bangladesh in the border states of Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, as these migrants serve as vote banks for those political parties. There are serious economic, social, political and security threats to people of the Indian states- Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and West Bengal, as these states are bordering Bangladesh and face mass influx of illegal migrants across borders.

Cross-Border Terrorism

Unstable economic, social and political regimes and the long-term lack of democratic politics have made Bangladesh a very weak country where terrorists and extremists lay their foundations. A simple money laundering recruits, infiltrates, supports, stimulates and provides ideal conditions for a group of international terrorists, gunmen, smugglers, pirates and ethnic rebels to be a safe haven. Four regional factors have been pointed out by Ali Riaz in contributing to the increase and spread of Islamic militancy in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh-India Relations; cross-border cooperation among Myanmar, Bangladesh and northeastern India’s militant groups. Weapons are easily available, “proxy war” between Pakistan and India(Riaz, 2010, p. 62). According to the estimations of a report, there are 127 training camps, and they are sponsored by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and these camps are all functioning in Bangladesh. They are patronized by the Islamic Morcha.

Cross-border terrorism and rebel movements are faced by India at the eastern border, especially considering the 2008 terrorist attacks in major Indian cities, including one thing in common with its base in Bangladesh. It is one of the main security issues. India has accused Bangladesh of promoting, encouraging and supporting various northeastern rebels, making India’s security vulnerable. Terrorists and radical groups are successfully being able to make their base firmly in Bangladesh. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) uses Bangladesh’s territory to carry out nefarious activities in India. ISI’s role in arming these groups by supporting and funding them are highly documented. After pressure from Pakistan since September 11, 2001, ISI has increased its activity in Bangladesh. In 2002, the police of West Bengal arrested many Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agents from Kolkata who crossed the border from Bangladesh, and the fact that ISI was using Bangladeshi soil was also revealed. Especially in border areas, madrasas are established and these madrasas have become places of recruitment of terrorist organizations (Mukharjee, 2002).

According to Indian intelligence agencies, insurgent groups have used the porous border between India and Bangladesh to move, enter, leave and function from camps. In 2001, media had reported that there were various North-Eastern insurgent groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Dina HalimDaigah (DHD), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) and Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) which were operating from Bangladesh. There were also reports that ULFA carried out several projects in Bangladesh that were generating income, in order to sustain insurgent activities in India.

Smuggling

The border between India and Bangladesh has become a haven for smugglers. The population of both sides of the border are involved in the business of smuggling. The people who sponsor these smuggling activities are located in the villages and towns on the Indian side of the two highways i.e., Kolkata-Siliguri National Highway and the Siliguri-Cooch Beharhighway. Things smuggled into Bangladesh from India include cattle, narcotics, sugar, rice etc. Smuggling cow is the worst aspect of this whole story. Lives tock trade between the two border countries are extremely high. It is estimated that about 1.5 million heard of cattle, amounting about US $500 million, are smuggled into Bangladesh each year. Bangladesh is a country with large number of Muslim population and beef is a necessity there. Hence, due to high demandof beef and its limited supply, prices are very high. Whereas, on the other hand in most of India, cattle are considered to be sacred, and the demand for beef is very low. Hence, due to low demand India has become a surplus of livestock in South Asia.

India’s Response to Counter These Threats in context of the India-Bangladesh Political Equations

To ensure national security and interest of India, its borders security must have strong vibe secured as well. In order to reduce the above mentioned cross-border threats from Bangladesh certain measures have been taken from the government of Indian accordingly in response to counter those threats. For securing the India-Bangladesh border measures like constructing fences, issuing and providing identity cards to the Indian citizens, developing border areas, and cooperating with Bangladesh have been taken. Following the recommendations by Group of Ministers (GOM), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, a Department of Border Management has been set up by the Indian government in order to handle both land and costal border issues of the country. By cooperating with other concerned ministries for better management of the borders, this department has been adopting several measures.

Strengthening Border Security Forces

‘One Border One Force’ was one of the most important recommendations made in the GOM report for strengthening and increasing efficiency and accountability of border guarding forces. Hence, the Border Security Force (BSF) has been entrusted the responsibility of guarding the India-Bangladesh border, and over time its battalion forces in the border have been greatly augmented along with additional Border Outposts (BOPs) for better surveillance. To an average of 4-4.5 kilometers the distance of inter-BOP has been reduced, from what it was initially an approximate of 9 kilometers. “The GOM Report had recommended that inter-BOP distance should be between 2.5 and 3.5 km. With additional deployment of troops, it is expected that the inter-BOP distances would fulfil the standard distance recommended by the GOM Report in the next few years. However, a blanket application of this norm may not be effective in a hostile or insurgency-infested terrain. Such belts require a greater concentration of BSF personnel. It is also suggested that sensitive BOPs should have the strength of a company, rather than a platoon.”(Das, 2008, p. 374)

Special and innovation training must be given to the personnel for better efficiency and prepare them for all situations. It is equally very important to provide them with better conditions of living and allowing them to rest as these will help to keep the personnel alert and be on their toes. Corruption and lack of responsibility in the BSF have discoloured its name and spirit. For best performance proper incentives must be given and extreme punishment for misconduct in order to prevent corruption. One of the main problemsof that the BSF faces is grasping the local language and culture of thepeople, and this issue causes them in misinterpreting intentions of the local peopleand thus, result in tension. In order to overcome a situation like this, more locals people should be recruited to join BSF, or there should be someone given the duty and duty to help the BSF.

Fencing

To prevent the India-Pakistan border from smuggling and infiltration the border was fenced, and this step was a major success. There were also recommendations in the GOM Report to fence the entire land boundary with Bangladesh as a measure to secure the border region from cross-border threats. Similarly, after examining the success the Indian government also raised fences for India-Bangladesh border. Along with the construction of proper commuting routes like roads and bridges, and installations of floodlights for better intelligence coordination, the project also included fences of 3,286.87 kilometers in order to strengthen patrolling of the border along with advanced devices such as night vision devices for enhanced border surveillance. This project has been sanctioned in two phases by the government of India. The first phase was from 1987 to 1999 and it was referred to as an ‘Ongoing Scheme’. Whereas its second phase was approved in 2000 and is still ongoing, this phase is known as ‘Additional Works’. The current phase consists of much better component of fencing, roads of 797 kilometers, and bridges of 4,062 meters in different states. But recently, it was informed by NityanandRai the Union Minister of State that the total length of the Bangladesh border was 2,126 kilometers of which 319 kilometers cannot be fenced due to topographical constraints (India, Bangladesh agrees to speed up border fencing, 2021). ₹2,378.32 crores are the estimated cost of roads. In the 2003-2004 annual budget, the Indian Government has raised concerns about illegal cross-border immigration from the other side of the border and has also increased the allocation in the budget for construction of barbed wire fencing and roads on the border from ₹75 crores in the earlier budget to ₹206.68 crores. Among them, ₹80 crores are for fencing and the remaining ₹120.68 crores for road construction(Cut in Allocation for Police, Paramilitary Forces, 2003).

Multi-Purpose National Identity Card

By preparing the national register and the issue of multi-purpose national identity cards (MNICs), it is another step to stop illegal immigration and identify those people living in India. When granting the project’s mandate, the Group of Minister’s Report had observed: ‘Illegal migration has reached a serious level. There should be a mandatory registration for the citizens and non-citizens residing in India. This will help compile the national register of citizens. All citizens must obtain a Multi-Purpose National Identity Card and non-citizens must obtain identity cards with a different colour and design. This should be first introduced in the border areas or possibly in a 20-kilometre border belt, and then it should be gradually expanded towards the inland. The central government must pay the full cost of the identity card program(Das, 2008, pp. 378-379).’

In November 2003 a pilot project was launched by the Union government to issue MNICs in twenty chosen sub-districts of twelve states along with a union territory covering a population of 31 lakhs. This project covered three border sub-districts of the India-Bangladesh border region one each pertaining in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura. Within a year the project was expected to be completed but at almost every step starting from surveying to verifying the status of citizenship, and then updating the data there were many difficulties encountered. Hence, due to complications and delays the project took much longer time to be implemented than the estimated time frame.

Prevention of Infiltration of Foreigners Scheme

A modified scheme for Prevention of Infiltration of Foreigners (PIF) was recommended in the GOM report in order to identify and deport migrants who have illegally entered India. This scheme is operational in Assam and financed by the Union government. Accordingly, the responsibility of identifying illegal migrants have been vested to the Assam border police, along with the responsibility of keeping a subsequent line behind BSF patrols along the border. There is a massive infrastructure for this purpose, and this massive infrastructure consists of 159 watch posts, 15 patrol posts, 344 investigation centers and 6 passport check posts (p. 379).

Conclusion

Without peaceful borders with its neighbouring countries, India cannot play its part in global affairs at this time of ground-breaking global change and the India-Bangladesh border is no exception to that. This border is vast and inhabited by communities which have a history of rich culture, language and heritage. It is often politically and economically neglected due to its geographical characteristics as it is situated at such an extreme corner of the country. This has forced the people living in the border area to indulge in cross-border movements in order for their survival. Along with the personal level, illegal migration has also become a security threat at the national and international level. The economy and infrastructure must be developed to integrate the border with the mainland. Establishing and maintaining proper border control is crucial with the goal of stopping illegal activities but also allowing the flow of business and other legal travelers. Administrative and legislative mechanisms need to be created to stem the flow of irregular migration. It is important for border control to secure the borders, but it has to be done without causing any harm to the economic interest of the people. It is necessary to guarantee political satisfaction and adequate security for border people, while reducing all cultural and communication gaps between border people in order to develop friendly relations between the two countries.

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