Border haats add booster dose to India-Bangladesh bonhomie

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It may well seem to be a fascinating story highlighting the lives of the local people along the India-Bangladesh border, whose lives and problems never make headlines. While people living across the borders may belong to different nationalities, the shared culture, problems and livelihoods relay commonalities, experts said, adding that India and Bangladesh need to focus more on local, micro issues that bind them to strengthen their ties.  </p>
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India and Bangladesh are now set to broaden the scope of “border haat” – an initiative that was started about 10 years ago to promote micro trade and enhance people-to-people contact along the border. Ten years on, there are only four such operational “border haats” though both governments now have embarked on a project of opening six more to boost trade between the people of the two countries.</p>
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“The border haats add a new dimension to India and Bangladesh border cooperation and is a clear departure from more conservative measures for addressing border security challenges,” a report by CUTS International published last year said.</p>
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit Dhaka on March 26 to participate in the celebrations marking 50 years of the country’s independence. Though as reported earlier by IndiaNarrative, there are no big-ticket agreements or major agenda planned during the visit, sources said that the channel of communication and diplomacy will be the focus. “These talks on diplomatic co-operation will continue at various levels. India is keen to maintain peace in the region, a senior government official said.</p>
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“The two countries must focus on micro level local issues to boost ties further. The thrust of bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh is in local issues more than the larger ones to create synergy, trust and co-operation between the two nations,” Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) told India Narrative.</p>
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“Border haats have been a huge success for both nations and the governments now need to look at mechanisms to further extend and expand the scope of these marketplaces. The haats are an excellent way of boosting people to people contact,” she said. Ahmed also noted that enhanced trade and economic activities between the two neighbours will not only create new business opportunities but also address existing misgivings.</p>
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The two countries signed a Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) aimed at jointly controlling illegal activities including human trafficking, smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunitions and dealing in fake currencies among other things.</p>
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India shares around 4,096 kilometres of border with Bangladesh covering five states including West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. “The border lacks any natural division and runs through diverse topography amidst congested towns, villages, paddy fields, hills and rivers,” the report said.</p>
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The border haats offered a number of benefits to the local residents – firstly, it offered residents in the border areas a much-needed forum to exchange their local produce; secondly, it created a number of alternative livelihood opportunities for both men and women, provided additional income to the stakeholders and in many ways restricted out-migration; and lastly, it helped reduce informal trade in these areas, a recent CUTS International report highlighted.</p>
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There has also been an overall decline in the incidence of informal trade in the locations where border haats are operational. “The decline in informal trade could be because -firstly, it created local employment opportunities which provided an additional source of income to the local people; and secondly, the border haats allowed trade in commodities that were earlier traded through informal channels, thereby discouraging trade through uncertain and often risky informal channels,” the report said.</p>
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Majority of the buyers on the Bangladesh side purchase various fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) items, cosmetics and toiletries, seasonal fruits and vegetables, tea, areca nut, betel nut and whole spices like – cumin, cardamom, and ginger. Customers on the Indian side generally purchase items like vegetables, Bangladesh made FMCG products, plastic ware and melamine products and toiletries among other things, the report said.</p>