Atal Behari Vajpayee's South Asian 'road transport' diplomacy, begun with his much-hailed trip to Lahore, has been deflated, as it were, by the bangs of big guns going off in Kargil. Meanwhile, to the region's east, it doesn't at all appear that his second innings at bus diplomacy, this time with the Dhaka-Calcutta service, will smoothen out India-Bangladesh relations as some thought it would.
The recent trade talks between the two countries were a downbeat exchange, and as things stand, there is little chance of Bangladesh improving the balance of trade that continues to tilt massively towards India. The meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Vajpayee in Dhaka recorded discrepancies, reflecting political realities which both sides still don't appear ready to deal with. Both leaders met exclusively for less than half an hour followed by the official meeting which lasted only 20 minutes.
The statements read out by India and Bangladesh on the issues discussed and decisions taken varied, further diminishing the value added to the meeting. Briefing the media, Vajpayee said that both sides had agreed on "multi-modal communication links which will facilitate free movement of traffic between both countries". On trade, he said "India had in principle accepted the request for duty-free access on a non-reciprocal basis in selected items of export interest to Bangladesh". Vajpayee mentioned agreement on developing a framework for border trade. But the Bangladeshi prime minister did not refer to any of these issues explicitly in her statement. She just said that discussions had been held on various issues. Vajpayee also stated that the issues would be discussed by the technical expert group due to meet soon. Sheikh Hasina did not mention that either.
Two agreements were signed during Vajpayee's 19 June visit to Dhaka. One was on a INR 2 billion (USD 47 million) loan to Bangladesh over the next three years, while the other was on developing trade relations between the Indian and Bangladesh federations of chambers of commerce. Again, the two prime ministers gave varying accounts on how the loan was to be utilised. While Vajpayee said that the money would be used to enable supply of transport equipment and capital goods to improve infrastructural facilities in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said that nothing had been finalised and the utilisation matter would be discussed at the next joint economic commission meeting.