India may give 10,000 acres of land to neighbor

[^_^ 5,021]

Ever since Bangladesh achieved its independence in 1971, struggles over territory and terrorism, rather than the exchange of goods and goodwill, have dominated its relations with its mega-neighbour. Forty years on, both countries appear to be nearing an agreement to solve the insoluble—by swapping territory.

The planned exchange of parcels of each other’s territory is concentrated around some 200 enclaves. These are like islands of Indian and Bangladeshi territory surrounded completely by the other country’s land, clustered on either side of Bangladesh’s border with the district of Cooch Behar, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Surreally, these include about two dozen counter-enclaves (enclaves within enclaves), as well as the world’s only counter-counter enclave—a patch of Bangladesh that is surrounded by Indian territory…itself surrounded by Bangladeshi territory.

...

There is now talk that a land swap might be sealed when India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh visits Bangladesh later this year. If it goes ahead, India stands to lose just over 4,000 hectares of its territory, or about 40 square kilometres. It has 111 enclaves of land within Bangladesh—nearly 70 square kilometres. Bangladesh has 51 enclaves of its own, comprising 28 square kilometres surrounded by India. The transfer proposed would simplify the messy boundary immeasurably—and entail something like a 10,000-acre net loss for India.

...

But what’s in it for India? Its broader desire to clarify its fuzzy borders with all its neighbours provides one attraction. The dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir has eluded resolution. China’s claim of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh remains an open sore. Drawing one steady borderline in the east looks comparatively easy.

India must also hope that its generous co-operation in the territorial dispute might help Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, secure popular Bangladeshi support for a rapprochement with India. Her Awami League (AL) government has proven itself a willing partner: working to deny Bangladeshi territory to the insurgent groups who challenge Indian sovereignty in its north-eastern states; and cracking down Bangladesh’s homegrown Islamic-extremist fringe. But as many of Sheikh Hasina’s fellow citizens see things, India has yet to reciprocate following their government’s consent last year to allow India to use Bangladesh’s ports and roads.

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The people who actually live in enclaves (and counter-enclaves) in a certain sense “don't see” the borders. They speak the same language, eat the same food and live life without regard to the politicians in Dhaka, Kolkata and Delhi. Many of them cross the border regularly (the bribe is US$6 a trip from the Bangladeshi side).

A few years ago, away from Cooch Behar, on the eastern border with India, I met a man who lived smack on the border between Tripura state and Bangladesh. His living room was in Bangladesh, his toilet in India. He had been a local politician in India, and was now working as a farmer in Bangladesh. As is typical in such places, he sent his daughters to school in Bangladesh, and his sons to India, where schools, he thought, were much better.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2011/02/enclaves_between_india_and_bangladesh

Edited February 18, 2011 by \

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

This is a nice gesture on India's part.

[luckytxn 2,263]

And here I have been about to go to court over a tree on the property line between my neighbor and I.

[^_^ 5,021]

And here I have been about to go to court over a tree on the property line between my neighbor and I.

[Dan and Judy 614]

And here I have been about to go to court over a tree on the property line between my neighbor and I.

Obama is behind this and if you ask he will help you with your tree problem

[luckytxn 2,263]

Obama is behind this and if you ask he will help you with your tree problem

I know he will but I could never disturb someone while they are playing golf.

I will probably just leave the friggin tree alone and pray that if it comes down in a hurricane that it does so on the neighbors business and not mine.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Obama is behind this and if you ask he will help you with your tree problem

Nope, US hasn't been involved in Indo-Bangla issues since Nixon tried to help suppress the birthing of Bangladesh.

[^_^ 5,021]

Nope, US hasn't been involved in Indo-Bangla issues since Nixon tried to help suppress the birthing of Bangladesh.

I know he made a show of force to make it look like that to the regime in Islamabad... but it has always struck me as deliberately weak and untimely. Almost as if it was a means of helping the military bosses in Rawalpindi save face without actually doing anything to inhibit the Indian role in East Pakistan.

[lostinblue 1,989]

I know he will but I could never disturb someone while they are playing golf.

I will probably just leave the friggin tree alone and pray that if it comes down in a hurricane that it does so on the neighbors business and not mine.

Sounds like beer on the white house lawn for you....

[Dan and Judy 614]

Nope, US hasn't been involved in Indo-Bangla issues since Nixon tried to help suppress the birthing of Bangladesh.

It's top secrete. The winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has been working quietly behind the scenes. He knew the republicans would be

up in arms if they got wind of it.

[mawilson 2,133]

It's top secrete.

Eww.

[luckytxn 2,263]

Sounds like beer on the white house lawn for you....

I can go for that. I saw where they have awesome snacks..............

[Dan and Judy 614]

Eww.

That's right, it is part of the "Eliminate Waste and Want" initiative. but thats top secrete too. so you didn't hear it from me