-Saurabh Kaushik
The imminent impending change in the domestic political landscape of West Bengal following the declaration of results of recent assembly elections marks an important moment in the post-independence history of the state. It is a harbinger of a recalibration of not merely domestic policies but also carries significant implications for India’s external relations primarily the Neighbourhood First policy. West Bengal’s long and sporadically porous border with Bangladesh is of high strategic concern and is critical in safeguarding India’s national security. Bangladesh has itself emerged from a period of political transition mired by uncertainty, instability, internal discord and attempts towards restructuring of the state’s raison d’être including its foreign policy for almost two years following widespread protests in 2024 against the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government. There is now a new government in place in Dhaka since February of this year. Given this context, it is imperative to engage in formulating foreign policy considerations in the normative and operational domains of India’s Neighbourhood First policy.
National security focus and tightening border control
India shares a 4,096.70 kms border with Bangladesh of which 3,239.92 kms, i.e. 79.08% has been physically fenced and 856.778 kms, i.e. 20.92% is unfenced. 2,216.7 kms of India’s border with Bangladesh falls in the state of West Bengal. Of this, 1,647 kms or 74.29% is fenced indicating that relatively large chunks of the border is still unfenced primarily in Murshidabad and Malda districts owing to a marshy and riverine terrain unsuitable for physical fencing. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which secured victory in the assembly elections paid significant attention to issues related to border management such as border infrastructure, fencing, trans-border crime, infiltration and cross-border radicalization in its manifesto for the Assembly elections in West Bengal.
The majority of seats (68 out of 128) in constituencies sharing a border with Bangladesh were won by the BJP in the assembly polls with the party making historic inroads in Murshidabad, where it won multiple constituencies for the first time ever including Murshidabad, Jangipur, Kandi, Beldanga, and Baharampur. The election results signal a desire on behalf of voters to see a curb on illegal immigration and infiltration from Bangladesh that ultimately impacts local livelihoods and resources. The India-Bangladesh border reported the highest instances of infiltration attempts and arrests of infiltrators among any land or maritime border in India. Between 2014 and 2024, more than 7,528 out of a total of 8,500 infiltration attempts and 18,851 out of a total of 20,800 arrests were recorded along the Bangladesh border alone, according to government data.
Other major pre-poll agendas for the BJP apart from infiltration that relate to border management and national security were illegal cattle smuggling, arms trafficking, and importantly, radicalization of the local population in Salafi and Wahhabi Islamist ideas by maulanas traveling from across the border of Bangladesh. The latter two present serious national security threats for India as rising radicalization can activate new and sinister forms of extremism and terrorist threats in West Bengal. In fact, the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in 2024 in Bangladesh enabled the onset of a process of Islamist radicalization through several Qawmi madrassas that got a free reign to operate unchecked under the transitional government.
The period under the transitional government also saw the reemergence of radical and extremist Islamist groups in Bangladesh such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), the Jamat-ul-Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS), the Al-Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJI-B), and the Hefazat-e-Islami (HeI), Bangladesh’s largest radical Islamic organisation which in collaboration with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) is attempting to establish a common pro-Caliphate transnational radical Islamic organisation – Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) – for Islamic groups in Bangladesh. These developments in India’s eastern neighbourhood represent the most significant irritants, spoilers, and primary national security threats for India. Therefore, given the importance of maintaining long-term strategic and economic engagement with Bangladesh – vital for India’s Neighbourhood First and Act East policies due to its geographical location – the India-Bangladesh border arguably needs robust control as well as tightening in the short-term. Perhaps, this interim ‘securitization’ of the border will lead to enduring ‘democratization’ of developmental outcomes for the two neighbours.
Strategic imperatives for the “double-engine” government in West Bengal and India
Decades of neglect, economic stagnation, youth outmigration and unemployment, progressively denuding law and order situation, and a lack of integrity of the international border with Bangladesh has resulted in a historic mandate for the BJP in West Bengal. In its manifesto, the BJP has promised the revival and modernization of the state’s economy by developing transportation and communication infrastructure and creating an investment-friendly business environment that could lead to rapid industrialization in the state. Drugs and arms running, cattle smuggling and other illegal trading activities, and radicalization and extremism thrive in places where no alternatives exist. Generation of avenues for employment through economic reforms, investment in innovation, and industrialization across Bengal could deter the radicalization of the populace, thereby enhancing national security outcomes.
West Bengal is home to the strategically vital “Chicken’s Neck” or Siliguri Corridor that forms the core of strategic considerations for India in the region. Development of transportation and communication infrastructure here will provide strategic depth, enhance military preparedness and act as a countervailing force and bulwark against growing Chinese presence in India’s eastern neighbourhood. Furthermore, development of ports, airports, rail and road infrastructure, in addition to an industrial base capable of promoting export-led growth, would uniquely place West Bengal as the possible anchor of India’s Act East policy providing a significant fillip to regional and sub-regional integration through operationalization of multi-modal connectivity projects and a regional energy grid through existing and newer cooperation regimes. The election of a “double-engine” government in West Bengal presents a unique and historic geopolitical opportunity. For India, using it wisely could lead to durable gains, while losing it may inflict tangible pain.
~~ About the author
Saurabh Kaushik has submitted his PhD thesis at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Sikkim University titled “Exploring Conflict Dynamics between Bhutan and India in Hydropower Development Cooperation and Grid Interconnections”. He is a Masters’ graduate in International Affairs (Diplomacy, Law & Business) from Jindal School of International Affairs, Sonepat, Delhi NCR. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Madras Christian College, Chennai. Saurabh has previously undertaken assignments as the Director for Research & Development at the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA), Kathmandu and Research Associate at The Himalaya Initiative, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Gangtok. He was a Youth Peace Advocate with Global Peace Foundation and worked on a project facilitated by Fredskorpset (now Norec), Norway. He has undertaken research assignments under the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) in the past and worked under a project organized jointly by Centre for the Study of Political Violence (CSPV) and Centre for International Economic Studies (CIES) at Jindal School of International Affairs, OXFAM, Action Northeast Trust (ANT) and Doctors for You (DFY), India. Saurabh had an editorial role in Himal Southasian, a reputed pan-South Asian magazine for politics and culture. He has also had a stint as a Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs, one of the leading investment banks in the world.
Saurabh is currently working as Research Fellow, Subhas Chandra Bose Chair on International Relations at Chanakya University, Bangalore. He can be reached out to at srbkkaushik@gmail.com