BREAKTHROUGHS ON THE BORDER

Small-scale border trade, which is different from the industry-scale bilateral trade, contributes only a fraction to the overall economic relationship between nations. But it does have a significant impact at the people-to-people level, as the India-Bangladesh haats show

Generally, political freedom better economic opportunities. However, there are rare cases when newly independent regions find themselves worse off because of the red lines on their maps. This is what happened to India’s North-East in 1947. On the one hand the country gained independence from British rule and awoke to “life and freedom”, to use the words of India’s first Prime Minister; but on the other hand, partition and the consequent establishment of East Pakistan, which was liberated in 1971 to become modern-day Bangladesh, meant that a large part of the new nation found itself cut-off from the ‘mainland’, almost overnight.

The erstwhile Kingdom of Tripuri, for example, received a particularly raw deal. That part of the ancient kingdom which was directly under the British Crown, became East Pakistan (and is now Bangladesh) in 1947, while the rest of it, the autonomous Princely State, joined the Union of India in 1949. Consequently, Tripura, as we know it today, is land-locked on three sides by Bangladesh while the other North-Eastern States are left with a tenuous geographical connect to the rest of the country, through the ‘chicken’s neck’.

The economical implications of these changes have been devastating. The new lines disrupted the old business patterns and nearly destroyed the region’s commercial eco-systems. Road links from the North-East, which passed through East Pakistan, were severed; the Assam Railway segment was cut-off from Indian Railways; Bengal’s jute industry was decapitated; the loss of Chittagong port meant that Indian tea and timber industries had to take a circuitous route to the Calcutta port.

It is only when one understands the scale of disruption that was inflicted during partition can one appreciate the importance of border haats that are being set up on the Indian-Bangladesh border (such haats also exist on the India’s border with Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, China and Pakistan). Defined by the Government of India as over-land trade by way of exchange of commodities from a bilaterally agreed list by people living along both sides of the international border, this arrangement is different from the large-scale trade that happens through land, air or sea ports, requiring customs clearances etc. Border trade happens on a much smaller scale and contributes only a fraction to the overall bilateral trade.

However, it does have a significant impact at the people-to-people level. There are two reasons for this: First, border areas are almost always also remote areas, and residents (be they buyers or sellers) do not have easy access to commercial centres in the heartlands. Hence, border haats are seen as a good alternative. Second, the socio-cultural ties of cross-border residents also provide an impetus for greater economic engagement. Border trade encourages familiarity and trust between communities. Notably, much of the border trade happens through the barter system  without mutual understanding and good faith, this system would not have worked. Also, it has been noticed that as border trade improves, border smuggling usually diminishes as well.

Border haats between India and Bangladesh were common before 1971, when locals exchanged surpluses at their weekly haats. These traditional markets, however, were shut down during the War of Liberation. After the war ended and Bangladesh became a sovereign nation, there was an attempt to restart the trade  in fact, a trade agreement was in the works in 1972 which specifically provided for trading opportunity to people living within 16 kms on either side of the border. to dispose off their goods which were mutually agreed upon. However, the pact wasn’t formalised due to apprehensions from Bangladesh. And when a trade agreement was eventually signed, it did not include border haats.

More than four decades later, the situation has changed dramatically and border haats are back with a bang (especially with regard to Bangladesh, and to some extent, Myanmar). These haats usually open once a week and nationals from both countries living within a four to five kilometer radius can trade locally produced goods and crops. Currencies of both countries are accepted and no taxes are imposed on the sale of designated items which mostly include crops, spices, minor forest products, fish, dairy and poultry products and cottage industry items.

Currently, there are four functional India-Bangladesh haats  Two were set up in 2012 on the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border at Kalaichar (India)-Baliamari (Bangladesh) and Balat (India)-Dalora (Bangladesh). The other two were set up last year in Tripura: The first was in January 2015 at Sabroom in the Southern Tripura district on the Indian side and Feni district on the Bangladeshi side. Then in June 2015, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina inaugurated via a video link, the Kamala Sagar border haat, located 35km south of Agartala.

At least four other border haats are being planned in Tripura alone  at Kamalpur in Dhalai district, Dharmanagar in North Tripura district and in the subdivisional towns of Khowai and Kailasahar. Overall, India aims to set up 70 markets in the north-eastern States, along its 4,096km border with Bangladesh, which includes a 1,116km riverine boundary.

Of course, border haats alone will not be enough. Political stability (in the Indian States and the neighbouring country) will be key and so will infrastructure development. Thankfully, there is good news on both accounts. While India-Bangladesh ties have become strong and robust, the Modi Administration has prioritised infrastructure development, particularly communication and transport facilities, in the North East. In fact, it was only early last month that the Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region sanctioned Rs580 crore for the construction of a railway corridor connecting India’s Agartala with Bangladesh’s Akhaura. The project has been in the works since 2010 and should be completed by 2017. Overall, while there has been significant progress, there is still a whole lot more than needs to be done before the full potential of border trade can be leveraged in a manner that benefits not only border residents but also neighbouring countries and the region at large.

(This article was published in the oped section of The Pioneer. A shorter version of this article was earlier published in India Perspectives magazine)