India's border with Bangladesh was originally agreed upon in 1974 following the latter's independence from Pakistan in 1971. While New Delhi supported Bangladesh's Awami League and East Pakistan's bid for independence, some border disputes have lingered. Since independence, the 2,429-mile border has presented opportunities for Indo-Bangladeshi cooperation, but more frequently it has been marked by conflict and tensions. Bangladesh has to contend with the risks of being almost completely surrounded by its larger neighbor. Dhaka's own contentious domestic political history has seen fluctuating relations with New Delhi, since the ruling Awami League favors closer relations with India while the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party historically has preferred a better working relationship with Pakistan.
In particular, the presence of Indian and Bangladeshi enclaves on either side of the border between West Bengal and Bangladesh has created security and political obstacles to relations between the two nations. Drug and weapons smuggling, the cross-border transit of militants and large influxes of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into India are chief among New Delhi's concerns. The marshy, relatively flat geography of the region also makes clear border demarcations difficult. This ambiguity led to a minor border skirmish between the two countries in 2001, when both were ruled by center-right nationalist parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka.
Since India's current center-left United Progressive Alliance government was re-elected in 2010, followed by the Awami League's landslide victory the same year, relations between the two South Asian countries have improved gradually. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina even signed a preliminary border agreement over the disputed Tin Bigha Corridor in 2011. It is this border treaty that the Indian government is hoping to pass in the current monsoon session of parliament, despite rising opposition from the Trinamool Congress and the Assamese Asom Gana Parishad parties in West Bengal.
