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Comment by discardorama | Hacker News Reader

You know Bangladesh would not exist were it not for India's intervention, right? And when the Indian Army had occupied all of Bangladesh, it could have just stayed there, "temporarily". But it withdrew fairly quickly, and Bangladesh was born.

My point is: if India wanted to screw Bangladesh over, it had ample opportunity; but it chose not to.

In any case: large chunks of Bangladesh is projected to be underwater in the near future, so maybe extra water is not a good thing? ;-)

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And as I've said elsewhere in this thread, most Bangladeshis are eternally grateful that India intervened when they did.

India's leadership has changed since then, however, and their actions in 1971 do not preclude a subsequent change of heart, or even crass indifference to what goes on downstream (which, honestly, is what I believe is happening now). A robust discussion and much diplomacy is in order between the two countries -- the possibility of which the Indian commentariat in this thread seems to be very eager to shut down.

I understand your concerns, and they are valid. However, none of us can predict the future; we can only use the past to fit patterns. For example: even during the worst periods of conflict between India and Pakistan, water continued to flow into Pakistan from India. Remember: Pakistan is mostly a desert without Indian water; and India did nothing. Relations between India and Bangladesh are quite friendly, so I have faith in a just resolution. Of course, Bangladesh must be vigilant.

yes, india withdrew the troops, not because of favour, mainly because of sheikh mujib's stubbornness.

well, in fact, bangladesh can also screw india in some sense, by helping the maoist separatists of the north-eastern part, but bangladesh never does that.

> by helping the maoist separatists of the north-eastern part, but bangladesh never does that.

A lot of the ULFA leaders were living in Bangladesh and got tacit support from the government of Khaleda Zia.

yes, still there are, but has nothing to do with "government support", governments on the both sides, are equally inept to handle corruption, crime and poverty.

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