10.3 India – Bangladesh Relations · Part 2

of India and Pakistan pre-dating . The population of both the countries share close and multi-faceted socio-cultural,religious and linguistic ties. What is more, both countries have a distinct honor of having their national anthem written by the same poet ‘Rabindranath Tagore.’ The creation of Bangladesh with the support of India, is a significant milestone in the history of South Asia. Rabindranath Tagore Bay of Bengal. The dispute was started when West Bengal government began constructing barrages on the river in mainly for irrigation purposes. The Bangladesh Government opposed it and argued that the major rice producing areas of Bangladesh, especially the ‘rice bowl’ Rangpur region lie in the Teesta and Brahmaputra river basin. In , an adhoc agreement on water sharing was signed between both counties. Yet, being an upper riparian state, India has not been able to supply the promised amount of water. Politically river water sharing continues to haunt both the countries. . New Moore Island or South Talpatti (Known in Bangladesh): New Moore Island is a small uninhabited offshore sandbar landform in the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta region. It emerged in the Bay of Bengal in the aftermath of the Bhola cyclone in , and disappeared at some later point. For nearly years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal but later in the rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them as the island was submerged. New Moore Island, in the Sunderbans, has been completely submerged, Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols. Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal. Although the island was uninhabited and there were no permanent settlements or stations located on it, both India and Bangladesh claimed sovereignty over it because of speculation over the existence of oil and natural gas in the region. Establishment of a new state