The comprehensive agreements concluded during the visit of the Bangladeshi interim government head cover all areas of economy promising the setting up of factories by Chinese companies in all districts of Bangladesh to make the 140 million country a manufacturing hub and exports centre in South Asia. China has proposed duty free and quota free access to its market to Bangladesh till 2028. China has assured $ 2.1 billion in Chinese investments, loans and grants to bail out Bangladesh’s ailing economy. All these are major relief for Dhaka amidst global turmoil over Trump’s tariff war.

So Dr. Yunus has returned as a conqueror who got a more powerful friend in China to defend Bangladesh than India. Yunus’s political stock has gone up in the parties and media. Suddenly, the interim head’s other failures and indecisiveness are being overlooked and he is emerging as a man who can make a turnaround of Bangladesh economy in this turbulent period. The Xi- Yunus agreements have started impacting the political discourse in a big way pepping up Beijing’s standing and projecting India under Narendra Modi in a more negative light.

While, the industrial collaboration and setting up of factories in China are important steps for economic revival for Bangladesh and India can not object to that, but the two decisions taken at the Beijing meeting should be of concern to New Delhi since those involve India. The first is that China will participate in the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project which the earlier Hasina government wanted to do with India as a collaborator. In fact the issue came up during Hasina’s visit to Beijing in the second week of July last year. Her meeting with XI Jinping and other top officials did not produce desired results. Hasina had to cut short her visit as the students movement was spreading in Dhaka at that time.

Bangladesh agreeing to take China as a partner in Teesta project as against India is a major diplomatic defeat for India since this project was under negotiations for long and during Sheikh Hasina regime’s fag end, some details were being worked out for finalizing the agreement. Now, this big project benefitting both India and Bangladesh is off for India. It is to be seen how South Block reacts to the announcement of Dr. Yunus on this shift in policy.

The second major issue of concern is the positive talks on signing an MoU to exchange hydrological information of Brahmaputra river. This has been under discussion for long. India and Bangladesh have already shared lot of information. Though the agreement is not yet signed, it is apparent that China is highly interested in this as already there are some reports that China is planning to construct dams on Tibetan side of Brahmaputra. Arunachal Pradesh government has expressed concern at this as in that event, the water supply in the state will be adversely affected.

The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali.. By itself, it is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge, and the 15th longest.

It originates in the Manasarovar Lake region, near Mount Kailash, on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet in China where it is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The Brahmaputra flows along southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great gorges (including the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Arunachal Pradesh. It enters India near the village of Gelling in Arunachal Pradesh and flows southwest through the Assam Valley as the Brahmaputra and south through Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be confused with the Yamuna of India). In the vast Ganges Delta, it merges with the Ganges, popularly known as the Padma in Bangladesh, and becomes the Meghna and ultimately empties into the Bay of Bengal.

At 3,000 km (1,900 mi) long, the Brahmaputra is an important river for irrigation and transportation in the region. The average depth of the river is 30 m (100 ft) and its maximum depth is 135 m (440 ft) (at Sadiya). The river is prone to catastrophic flooding in the spring when the Himalayan snow melts. The average discharge of the Brahmaputra is about ~22,000 m3/s (780,000 cu ft/s), and floods reach about 103,000 m3/s (3,600,000 cu ft/s). It is a classic example of a braided river and is highly susceptible to channel migration and avulsion. It is also one of the few rivers in the world that exhibits a tidal bore. It is navigable for most of its length.

In Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra is joined by the Teesta River (or Tista), one of its largest tributaries. Below the Tista, the Brahmaputra splits into two distributary branches. The western branch, which contains the majority of the river's flow, continues due south as the Jamuna (Jomuna) to merge with the lower Ganga, called the Padma River (Pôdma). The eastern branch, formerly the larger, but now much smaller, is called the lower or Old Brahmaputra (Brommoputro). It curves southeast to join the Meghna River near Dhaka. The Padma and Meghna converge near Chandpur and flow out into the Bay of Bengal.

That way, the decision of Chinese participation in Teesta Project and the hydrological work on Brahmaputra river can not be confined to just China and Bangladesh, India has to be involved as Brahmaputra passes through India also and the work on the proposed Teesta restoration project has very much relevance for Indian states including Bengal. The question is will Bangladesh take India along in both the projects and agree to carry on discussions with New Delhi.

Indian officials in South Block must be sulking after the Xi-Yunus announcement on Friday. But this total switchover to China by Dhaka would not have happened if Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the request of Dr. Yunus to meet him in New York in September last year on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly. Modi avoided at that time. A close official of Bangladesh government said in Dhaka Dr Yunus wanted to meet Narendra Modi first, but he was not granted meeting, so he went to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping.

There is another chance to meet Dr. Yunus at Bangkok at the BIMSTEC summit on April 2-4. Both Modi and Yunus are attending. Yunus’s request for meeting is pending. If the Indian Prime Minister agrees to meet Dr. Yunus in Bangkok on April 3 or 4, that will surely help in exchange of views on both the issues. At least a beginning can be made after seven and half months of ignoring Dr. Yunus. If Narendra Modi ignores the Bangladeshi request for talks at Bangkok even now, China will dominate. It will be too late later to take up Brahmaputra and Teesta issues. (IPA Service)