Delhi and Dakha should have intervened when the tension was building up gradually, three days before the happening. True, the delineation of the border has taken too long. New Delhi has been dragging its feet in transferring the territory which has been accepted as Dhaka's. Frayed tempers in Bangladesh are understandable when there is a feeling that its territory has remained under India's occupation even after a settlement. But what is not understandable is the use of violence.
Comparisons are odious.
But we felt horrified when China tied some of our border policemen to the tails of horses and dragged them all over the Ladakh region in 1968. That it happened in the wake of slogans such as Hindi Chini bhai bhai was all the more disturbing. Friendly countries should never think of using force for settling any dispute. If they do, they give vent to their deep-rooted suspicions. It means they have yet a long way to go to develop mutual confidence.