sinkhole routing.

While this may sound a lot

like some Star Trek episode, it’s important for us to understand what each is,

and more so how to implement them. Sinkholes are designed to attract traffic

and keep it (for analysis or whatever reason). Blockhouse, on the other hand,

are designed to attract traffic and never let it be seen again.

In larger networks (and

what we simulate in our CCIE labs) both of these techniques are typically done

via BGP. So let’s start with the sinkhole idea. To create a sinkhole, we want

to attract traffic. The first question we need to ask is Why?

Whenever you advertise a

network out, you inadvertently attract traffic to that IPs. That traffic may

be good, or it may be bad. From a security perspective, I’m sure everyone has

heard the term Honeypot used before. There is a specific purpose to attract

traffic.

So let’s say that you have

a /24 network advertising to the Internet through various connections. Traffic

can come in and wend its way through your network to the destination network

segment. You notice a Dos attack, or some huge amount of traffic towards one of

your web servers. Where do you secure against this? How do you secure against

it? Are you still moving traffic all the way through your network to one final

router before the segment? Are you tying up all your link’s bandwidth while

doing this?

Sinkholes spread

throughout your network are a way to break apart and analyze the traffic,

perhaps cleaning it and moving the good stuff on through. But multiple routers

would need a focal point, or different way to route that traffic. You may

simply change the destination for a single IP out of that /24. Most-specific

routing always wins, so that’s an easy way. Maybe you have multiple analysis

points in your network to segment the traffic and reduce load and bottlenecks in

your topology.

Either way, follow the lab

instructions and you are creating a sinkhole. You may even be advertising extra

networks just to attract traffic for analysis (like a Honeypot idea). Just

watch what’s being asked, but that’s the concept of a sinkhole.

Blackhole routing on the

other hand wants to kill traffic. Simply enough, we could go to all of our

routers and install some Null0 routes. In real life, this is not a scalable

approach. Hence the term remotely-triggered blackhole routing, and we’ll use

BGP. Killing a route via a routing protocol is not a simple concept. No matter

how hard we try when advertising a route, Null0 is not a valid next-hop to pass

along to someone else!

So every router needs to

have a seed route to Null0. Pick something that isn’t used.

Ip route 1.1.1.1

255.255.255.255 null0

That goes on every single

router now. Of course, we would also have BGP setup between all of our internal

routers. Perhaps not really moving any “real” routing information, just used to

kill things. Now we need the trigger. On a central router (wherever an admin

is anyway) we’ll do our maintenance for what routes we want to kill.

Ip route 192.0.0.0

255.0.0.0 null0 tag 86

ip route 100.100.100.0 255.255.255.0 null0 tag 86

ip route 200.200.200.0 255.255.255.0 null0 tag 86

Notice the tag on those

static routes. This will be used for redistribution to help only get the “bad”

routes from a router that may actually have many other static routes. Ok, not

in the real lab, but we’re pretending that the skills we learn on our way to

CCIE have some real-life intrinsic value, right?

So once we have decided on

our central router what routes we want to kill everywhere, then we pass them out

through BGP.

Route-map KillRoutes

permit 10

Match tag 86

Router bgp 65000

Redistribute static route-map KillRoutes

That all seems very

simple, right? Well, yes it does, but it won’t help us. At this point, all of

our iBGP routers would see the central router as the next hop for each of the

routes. Ok, yes, that creates a blackhole. Because it pulls all of the packets

into the middle of our network and then kills them locally with a Null0

next-hop. But we are wasting LOTS of bandwidth in doing this. Always filter as

close to the source as possible. Good design rules!

In order to do this, we

need to change the next hop of the route from our central router’s IP address to

that of the distributed Null0 route (1.1.1.1 in my example).

Route-map NH-Change permit

10

Match tag 86

Set ip next-hop 1.1.1.1

Route-map NH-Change permit 20

Router bgp 65000

Neighbor x.x.x.x route-map NH-Change out

(repeat for each of your neighbors unless you’re using peer groups!)

The last permit statement

of the route-map was to pass-through any other routes that you may want to run

in BGP unchanged. Only make the next-hop change for those routes that are

evil. You could also set this next-hop within the original redistribute

route-map. I just split it out for pointing out the differences.

At this point, all of your

other routers have learned some routes via iBGP, with a next-hop of 1.1.1.1 and

since they have a local static route to Null0 for that next hop, all routes

learned this way will be killed.

We have now used blackhole

routing in a remotely-triggered manner. Kinda cool, huh? Not difficult either,

just a matter of thinking about what we are trying to accomplish.

As noted, these techniques

have been listed more explicitly on both the Security (2.0) and Service Provider

CCIE tracks. I don’t see any reason why they can’t be used in Routing &

Switching as well, so it never hurts to think these things through!

For some extra

information, check out:

scenario carefully. Makes notes and diagrams as necessary, but think like the

router does. Think things through one step at a time and all of these

complicated things suddenly become much easier.

Cheers,

Scott

Scott Morris is

IPexpert’s Vice President of Curriculum and Senior Technical Instructor.

With over 20 years of technical training and consulting experience and

a wealth of technical certifications, Scott Morris has proven to be among the

elite in the technical training industry. Scott is one of the few people in the

world who currently hold four separate CCIE certifications, but is one-of-a-kind

by having added Juniper Network’s expert level certification. He is also

actively preparing for the CCIE Voice. Scott has years of experience both

writing and teaching CCIE lab preparation materials with an outstanding track

record of success.

Over the past seven years, Scott has also been involved in many aspects of

training directly for Cisco’s internal staff on a variety of advanced technical

topics. His knowledge and real-world experiences have been sought after for many

projects.

Scott has also participated in editing, writing and reviewing training books for

Cisco Press, Wylie, Sybil, Que. Publishing and McGraw-Hill. His contributing

author work includes Cisco Press’ Managing Cisco Network Security book ( ISBN:

1578701031) – Chapters on the PIX Firewall; and Cisco Press’ CCIE Practical

Studies, Vol. 2 (ISBN: 1587050722) – Chapter on Multicast. Scott can be reached

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Many people have encountered the term townhome or townhouse. However, very few people are able to distinguish its difference from other properties. A townhome is like a condominium and a single-family home rolled into one. Townhomes are several units linked in one structure. The units have the design of single-family homes. However, they are placed next to each other. They usually have two stories and they do not have neighbors positioned above and below them.

Many people are investing in this type of property because of the several things it offers. One, it provides a comfortable dwelling. It is also perfect for people who have busy schedules. Its other benefits are listed below:

It is less expensive than the single-family home. This means that those who wish to have a single-family home can have a cheaper alternative. They will still enjoy a comfortable home at a much affordable price. Families will not need to worry about privacy. This is a major concern for homes that are closely linked with each other. Although this is the case for townhomes, each homeowner has their own doors. They do not have to worry about nosy neighbors because they do not have neighbors above and below them. Outdoor maintenance is a breeze. This is another thing that separates it from the traditional home. It does not have a vast yard to maintain regularly. Although its exteriors will still need some cleaning, the process will not be that tiring. You will feel more secured. This is because the houses are close to each other. The residents know their neighbors. They will easily recognize strangers in the property. In addition to that, neighbors will easily hear suspicious noises, which can make them respond more quickly. It is also easier to socialize. If you live in a townhome, it will not be difficult to familiarize the faces of your neighbors. This makes it easier to make friends. You do not have to walk far to meet them. A simple hi to a resident next door will already help you make friends. You will also enjoy several amenities. There are several amenities provided for the residents. One is the swimming pool. They can enjoy swimming there anytime they want. Most townhomes have fitness centers and playing areas as well. People on the go will also appreciate townhomes. This is because there are several townhomes near the workplace. They can choose townhomes that will suit their needs. If they find one near their workplace, they will surely save on transportation expenses and travel time.

Many will benefit from living in a townhome. If you think that this is a property for you, invest in one.

Read more on The Irish Times

Lebanon sends warrant for suspected spy to Interpol
Lebanon’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday sent an arrest warrant against a suspected spy for Israel to international police agency Interpol after reports the suspect who fled the country last year may be in France.

Read more on Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News

Martin’s point is you should not fight the Fed when they are intent on moving interest rates either up or down. Given that this is still true in today’s environment, what might take place over the next six to twelve months with interest rates, especially the discount rate?

Monetary Policy

Before I get into a way to assess when interest rates will begin to rise, it is important to understand monetary policy responsibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve. As stated on the Federal Reserve site the Federal Reserve is responsible for:

Conducting the nation’s monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates

The responsibility for the pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates can be on conflict, especially in times of economic trouble. Presently, the Fed is doing all it can to encourage economic growth and avoid deflation. Part of this effort comes through near zero interest rates and by adding a lot of money to the financial system. Once it does succeed in overcoming the deflation threat, the U.S. will be threatened by the potential for inflation, as all the money pumped in by the Fed looks for a return. To help offset rising inflation the Fed will raise rates and sell securities it holds to absorb some of the excess money. Higher rates will slow economic activity and slow job growth. There in lies the conflict.

Role of Money in the Economy

In a normal economy, the amount of monetary stimulus we are witnessing would quickly lead to higher inflation. In fact, many people are worried that the U.S. will face very high interest rates in the next several years as all the money that has been created will cause another asset bubble and an inflationary spiral. After all Milton Freidman taught us, that inflation is a matter of printing too much money. Depending on the measure you use, the Fed has been printing a lot of money.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank through its FRED database has an extensive set of economic and monetary information. The chart below shows the adjusted monetary base, which is cash plus bank reserves held at the Fed. All banks must keep a certain amount of money with the Federal Reserve.

Money is not a simple item. Depending on where and how it is used or held, it is counted in a different way. The adjusted monetary base is one of the simplest form of money.

As you can see, the adjusted monetary base grew at a slow pace year after year until recently. Then in late 2008, the monetary base exploded up, more than doubling. This huge expansion in the monetary base is what makes so many analysts worried that the U.S. is facing high inflation. Just talk to a gold bug as they see this chart as a clear indication the price of gold will more than double to $2,000 and ounce due to higher inflation. However, there is more to the story.

One of the important factors to understand when looking at the money supply is what is knows as the velocity of money, which is the average frequency an amount of money is spent over a specific period of time. This can get complicated quickly.

Let’s take a small economy that existed on your street when you where a child. You set up a lemonade stand and sell a glass for $1. Your friend sets up a cookie stand and sells cookies for $1.00. Another friend down the street sells icicle pops for $1.00. Each of you starts with $5.00 in cash for a total of $15, equivalent to a monetary base of $15. Things are a little slow so you buy three cookies and two icicle pops from your friends spending all of your $5.00. Your friends are thirsty and buy $5.00 worth of lemonade from you. Then your two friends spend their remaining $5.00 on cookies and icicle pops from your other friends. In the end, everyone ends up with $5.00 while having enjoyed cookies, icicle pops, and lemonade. Since the money spent has only passed through each hand once, the velocity of money for that day is 1. The Gross Domestic Product for this little economy is $15.00.

On the next day, the same thing happens. Everyone spends their $5.00 and ends up with $5.00. Now the money has changed hands twice over two days. In this case, the velocity of money is 2 over the two day period. Yet the amount of money in place remains at $15.00. The GDP for this little economy is $30.00 over the two-day period. The monetary base remains at $15.00.

For the mathematicians out there you can make this into a simple formula of nominal GDP = Money * Velocity or Y = M*V.

On the third day, another friend opens a hotdog stand but he does not have any starting cash, so the monetary base remains the same at $15.00. You and your first two friends decide to spend their $5.00 among the other three friends buying and selling lemonade, cookies, icicle pops and hotdogs. Let’s say the three original stores earned $4.00 and new one earned $3.00. On average, each person ends up with $3.75. ($15/4=$3.75). At the end of the day, the three original friends figure that they are in a depression. Sales have plunged to $4.00 on average. The new member of the economy is excited as she now has $3.00.

So what happened? GDP for the day stayed the same; it just was spread among more members of the economy. The total aggregate of money did not change, remaining the same at $15.00. The velocity of money stayed the same. Three-quarters of the population had a severe recession, while one is happy with her newfound money. Overall business is not good.

The next day a neighbor decides to spend some money and buy something from each child’s store, spending $1.00 at each store. If the each friend still spends their money as before, their $4.00 from the first three stores and the $3.00 from the new store, the GDP of our street economy just rose to $19.00 for the day. $15 + $4.00 from a benevolent neighbor = $19.00. The aggregate money supply rose to $19 as well. However, the velocity of money remained the same at 1 for the day. The three original stores took in $5.00 and the new store took in $4.00. Things are looking better.

The neighbor injected money into the economy to help it recover, much as if the Fed injects money into the economy. In fact, it is just like the Fed growing the money supply to encourage growth in the economy. In addition, while the money supply grew the velocity of money stayed the same.

The next day the same neighbor once again spends $4.00 at each store. The kids spend their $5.00 or $4.00, their earnings from the day before. The original stores now have $6.00 each and the newer store has $5.00, bring the total economy to $23.00. The aggregate money supply is now at $23 as well. Things are better than ever. The benevolent neighbor once again stepped in to help everyone.

Being an enterprising individual, you realize that there is more money to be made if you raised your prices from $from $1.00 to $1.50 for a glass of lemonade. After all, there is more money around and you want more of it. The next day you sell four glasses of lemonade to each of your friends for $1.50 collecting $6.00. Your strategy worked. Your friends keep their prices the same. Unfortunately, one of your friend’s store only sell $4.00 worth of goods while the others sell $5.00. Since you sold $6.00, only $17 was available for the other three stores to share. ($4.00 * 3 = $12 + $ 5.00 = $17.00). Your price increase caused the other stores to suffer, since the total money supply did not increase. Neither did the velocity of money as it only passed through one had during the day.

The next day the other stores raise their prices to $1.50. Once again, the neighbor bought goods from each store, spending $1.50 instead of $1.00. Now the total money supply increased to $29.00. The GDP for our street economy rose to $29.00 as well. Everyone is making more money, but it cost more to buy goods. In fact, you cannot buy more with your newfound wealth as inflation eats up your gains.

On the next day, you and your friends decide to spend part of your prior day’s earnings, keeping $1.50 in your pockets. The day’s sales for everyone are $23.00, the GDP. The aggregate money supply remains at $29.00 ($23.00 + ($1.50 * 4)). Since the GDP fell, the velocity of money also fell from 1.00, as it had been in previous days, to 0.79 (23/29). While everyone has some money in their pockets, they are worried that sales have fallen off. Being smart consumers each friend is being prudent with their money, saving some, rather than spending all of it. This is the situation the U.S. finds itself.

I am using this short story to give you an idea of how the Fed stimulates an economy and how money works in an economic system. In the real world, the Fed provides money through banks in a more complicated process. Nevertheless, the basic idea is the same.

M2 Money Stock

Returning to our world and the current situation of the money supply, the Fed has injected a lot of money, doubling the monetary base. Is this money doing what it is supposed to do, i.e. growing the economy. Look at the M2 Money stock measures to get a better look. M2 includes additional measures of money including savings, time deposits, money market funds, and other close to money substitutes. All things being equal, the M2 should grow substantially if the monetary base doubles. There is more money around, so more of it ends up in these close money substitutes.

As the chart below shows, the M2 money supply has not leapt up as one might expect. In fact, in the last couple of months, the M2 turned down rather than ramp up. Going back to our formula for the money supply it looks like the velocity for money has pulled back some, negating the simulative affects of the Feds doubling of the aggregate monetary base.

This raises several questions. Will the velocity of money increase to help support the stimulus of the economy? Is the growth of the aggregate money supply sufficient to keep the economy from falling into deflation? Will the doubling of the aggregate money-base cause inflation to take off?

Only time will tell. For now, the decline in the velocity of money is partially off setting the rise in the monetary base. Going forward we need to monitor whether this will change, or is this permanent. With the velocity of money falling it reduces the current threat of inflation. On the other hand, it increases the potential that deflation could take hold.

Finally, the Fed itself is debating when it must “unwind” the expansion of the money supply. Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh indicated in a recent Wallstreejournal.com op-ed that the Fed might have to be more aggressive unwinding the easy money policy, much like it was aggressive in creating more money to begin with.

The falling velocity of money gives the Fed has some protection to maintain its easy money policy. This means the Fed can keep interest rates low for longer than some think. Remember, one of the Federal Reserve’s duties to is to pursue maximum employment. With unemployment likely to rise to ten percent, the Fed will not be in a hurry to raise interest rates to fast. As a result, I do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates until late in 2010. Moreover, when they do raise rate, it will be in slow measured steps as they try to drive unemployment down. They will be helped along the way by the falling velocity of money.

As investors, we need to monitor what the Fed says and does. For as long as Fed maintains its easy money policy stocks will do well.

Perhaps, the most important thing to think about is what type of decorations you want in your front yard.  In the United States, as previously mentioned, a large number of individuals decorate their front yards with Christmas decorations. These yard decorations come in a number of different formats. There are some homeowners who simply place a Santa yardstick in their yard or add lights to the outside of their home, but other homeowners go all out, some with huge inflatable Santa dolls and other colorful decorations.  The type of Christmas decorations that you plan on using, as well as how many will make it easier to determine whether or not you should decorate your lawn for Christmas.

Unfortunately, there are many homeowners who feel that they can do whatever they want to their property because it is their right to do so. While it is your right to decorate your home, as well as your front yard, you will want to take your neighbors into consideration. If you live in a highly populated community, there is a good chance that large lawn decorations, especially those with bright lights, may cause some discomfort among your neighbors.  You will not want to create a Christmas lawn display that has your neighbors up all night because your Christmas lights are shining into their bedroom. That is why it may be a good idea to speak to your neighbors before ornamenting your lawn, especially if you plan on creating a large display.  You may find that your neighbors do not even care.   

In addition to what your neighbors think, you may also want to be concerned with what your town, city, or county officials think. While you might not necessarily know this, there are some cities, towns, and counties that have strict regulations on what can or cannot be placed on a lawn. This is most commonly seen with business signs or election signs. While your local community may not have these restrictions, it is important that you check ahead of time. If you do set up a large Christmas display and you are legally prohibited from doing so, you will likely just receive a warning the first time, but action may be taken later. That is why it is important that you know what you are getting yourself into ahead of time.

Before deciding to decorate your lawn for Christmas, it might be a good idea to examine the cost of doing so.  While it is possible to find a number of low-cost Christmas decorations for the lawn, such as small lawn signs and outdoor Christmas lights, the larger you want your display to be the more you will have to pay.  If you are looking for large decorations, such as an inflatable Santa and reindeer set, you will need to pay quite a bit more money.  These decorations may cost fifty dollars or more.  If you are ornamenting for Christmas on a budget, it may be difficult or impossible for you to find large, affordable Christmas decorations, unless you are willing to buy used decorations.  It may also be a good idea to examine the cost of extra cost of electricity, especially if you are using a large number of Christmas lights.  

When it comes to ornamenting your lawn, as mentioned above, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages.  By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to decide for your own whether or not it is a good idea for you to decorate the outside of your home for Christmas.

(New Age, 0ctober 17, 2009) the Editor in his editorial, (New Age, 0ctober 18, 2009) has

correctly voiced his opinion under the topic, 0ne ‘test case’ is bitter enough. Congratulations to the Editor for his excellent analysis.

I am confident, that together with me, the conscious Citizens of Bangladesh would equally agree with all the relevant points indicated therein which I submit here to highlight and analyze further:

1. We cannot but express our apprehension about another ‘test case’. The Farakka Barrage, which was supposedly a test case for three weeks, continues to further misery in Bangladesh even over three decades later. Another test case may prove to be too bitter a pill to swallow.

2. While connectivity among the peoples of the two countries, and indeed the entire region, is imperative in order to bring about a more cohesive integration of the subcontinent has substantial advantages, it certainly cannot be at the cost of the individual country’s strategic, political and economic disadvantage that might threaten individual sovereignty. The Asian Highway route is yet is yet to be decided and it appears that the government is all but ready to submit to tacit Indian pressure of agreeing to a route that would not increase Bangladesh connectivity and provide India with a transit of sorts as both the entry and exit points of two of the three proposed routes would be through India.

The above interests of our friendly neighbor, India, according to my judgment are contributing to an overall negative attitude due to lack of transparency in placing the demands and in the manner  the  respective Authorities of both Governments are wheeling and dealing to finalize it. I wish to indicate herein two points in support of this view:

1. Ejaz’s report confirms that 0fficials of the foreign affairs, shipping and communications ministries would want to know how the decision would be implemented and how it could benefit both neighbors. A senior 0fficer, involved in the process said, we consider allowing India transit once as test case and its result will decide the fate of other proposals floated earlier by New Delhi.

2. We are not being informed as to whether the interests of Bangladesh are being included into the deliberations for the Indian Government’s concurrence; issues that are pending for long namely, SAFTA and SAPTA, reduction in non-tariff, para-tariff and tariff barriers for Bangladesh products to be exported to India, removing barriers to Bangladeshi investment, making the Joint Rivers Commission functional ,solutions to Farakka Barrage and other installations and transit to Bhutan and Nepal through India with a view to fostering harmony and integration of the region.

I wish to avail this opportunity to ask the Government of India four very pertinent questions: 1.How, over the last 38 years, prior to Independence of Bangladesh, did they solve the communication, administrative and economic problems of Tripura and Arunachal(the seven sister states)? 2. Why are they being impatient with the Government of Bangladesh’s deliberation on this matter before it can make a final decision? 3. How much cooperation has the Government of India extended to the Government of Bangladesh to solve the above mentioned pending issues of interest to Bangladesh to enhance the “Friendship” between the two?  4. Why India doesn’t feel that there could be security threats to Bangladesh when it wants transit through approximately 600 miles of Bangladesh land to Arunachal and use of Ashuganj port plus Akhaura-Tripura 31 km road connection; when both areas are hot beds for insurgency?

My personal opinion is that, India should continue dealing with these areas as it had been doing before over the previous 38 years and there is no necessity to burden Bangladesh with their domestic problems  and  security threats that can arise from insurgents.

Security threat was cited by the Indians, when it denied Bangladesh the use of Calcutta port in 1972,  (our Chittagong port was difficult to operate then, in view of several sunken ships in and around the port area during the War); and 16 miles of transit through Indian land for trade between two SAARC countries, Bhutan and Nepal. Why can’t Bangladesh do the same?

About cooperation from India to Bangladesh to enhance friendship, it would suffice to say “the less said the better”; while at private and Citizen level the friendly atmosphere is so cordial, it is a pity that over the last 38 years no initiative from either side of Government and political level has been initiated to improve friendly relations without asking of any favor from each other. At Government and political level we still remain suspicious and recall the errors of the past;  I include herein a few pointers for the readers knowledge. Relations began to sour from the time the exile Mujibnagar government was installed and immediately after Independence, on 16 December 1971, when representatives of Bangladesh government and Mukti Bahini were absent from the ceremony of surrender of Pakistan Army to Indian Army, shifting of Jute headquarters to Delhi and placing an Indian as head of Rakhi Bahini and implementation of the seven point agreement between late Indira Gandhi and the then acting president of the exiled Mujibnagar government, late Syed Najrul Islam (ref The war preparation of India-Pakistan and war by Dr.Kalidas Baidyo)was being implemented. Late Jean Dixit, first High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh wrote in his book “Liberation and Beyond, “India’s failure to return part of the military equipment captured from Pakistani forces to Bangladesh and its defense experts suggesting that Bangladesh need not have a large armed force equipped with armour etc also created  misunderstandings and revived  old suspicions about Indian hegemonism”. The list is too long and to shorten it we note with dismay the most recent signs of uncooperation,(1)   pressurizing  Bangladesh government to cancel the connection through Myanmar for the Asian Highway and the (2)Tipaimukh Dam episode. My article “Will dams “damage” the relationship? published on July 24,2009 in the The Financial Times, can be read by those interested in details as well suggestions to its solutions , which in return can help in improving relations.

Next, for the knowledge of Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and Citizen of Bangladesh, I wish to present here an example of  a good strategic diplomacy that will help Bangladesh to negotiate with India. Prior to her decision to help Bangladesh during the war late Indira Gandhi made twenty years treaty with Soviet Union(Russia) which guarantee India  economical, political and military assistance (arms and ammunition needed for the war). Inspite of this treaty late Indira Gandhi didn’t alter the important principles of Indian foreign policy. She made it clear that Soviet Union would not receive any special privileges—much less naval base rights- in Indian ports, despite major Soviet contribution to the construction of ship building and ship repair facilities at Bombay (Mumbai). By repeatedly emphasizing the nonexclusive nature of its friendship with Soviet Union, India kept open the way open for normalizing relations with China and improving ties with the West. (http://countrystudies.us/India/133.htm)

0ne marvels and admires the late Indira Gandi’s intelligence and strategy, which should be a learning lesson and an eye opener, for our Prime Minister, to know that friendship with neighbors can be retained, while diplomacy means strategy without bending our backs to grant special privileges that could be detrimental to our own Country; and that friendship begets friendship, which is imperative for our neighbors to offer.

Agartala, May29, 2009 ICT by IANS (www.thaindian.com) states that Bangladesh has agreed in principle “and this what the ‘test case’ is about” to allow India to use its water ways to transport  heavy machines for 0il and Natural Gas Corp’s(ONGC) upcoming740-MW power project in Tripura. This gas based project, the biggest ever of ONGC is coming up in south Tripura’s Palatana and is expected to be operational by 2012. Tripura Chief Secretary, Shashi Prakash said if necessary India is ready to provide Rs.100 million to Dhaka to improve the poor road (linking Agartala) on the Bangladesh side. “Dhaka and New Delhi are now considering adding Ashuganj as the ninth port of call for easy transport of Indian goods from other parts of the country to the land-locked north-eastern region through Bangladesh.

I can only presume, that our Foreign Minister as well as our Prime Minister, is well aware of the above facts, and wish to remind them of the Bhopal gas tragedy. 0n December 2, 1984 tons of toxic gas leaked from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide in Bhopal (India), killing 3.800 people almost immediately. Thousands more were injured. The people are still suffering from lungs problem and respiratory diseases and the new born children are facing problems of poor visions, proper growth and loss of memory. Union Carbide accepted responsibility and established 100 million dollars charitable trust fund to build hospital for the victim yet the Government failed to provide victims of quality medical care. The victims are suffering.

Should any accident like the Bhopal gas tragedy happen within Tripura, (a) either during installation and connection or (b) objections and possible sabotage by the Citizens of Tripura for use their available gas or (c) later during its operation by ONGC; who will take the responsibility and what measures will taken to protect the lives of Bangladeshi Citizens, residing within close proximity to Tripura border area? This factor cannot be overlooked.

What does India mean by Ashuganj as its “ninth port of call”? How will the Rs.100 million be given; as direct payment or as loan to Bangladesh to be paid back with interest?   What would be the terms and condition of the use of the port by India and whether Bangladesh too can use it for its economic benefit without being pressurized by India for their exclusive use.

It is imperative, to obtain complete explanations from the Indian Government, on all the points at the earliest, for Bangladesh to evaluate the entire deal so that an agreement may be signed by May 2010 , as Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has conveyed to her Indian counterpart S.M.Krishna in Delhi on September 8, 2009.

Two vital issues that demands inclusion here are: 1 Maritime Boundary and 2. Bangladesh’s Border and its defending institution BDR.

1.The most important issue is that of maritime boundary that Bangladesh has lodged with the United Nations. Will friendly India support Bangladesh claim to settle the issue on the principles of equity rather than on principles of equidistant, which both India and Myanmar are favoring? Foley Hoaq is retained by Bangladesh for arbitrations against India and Myanmar over boundaries in Bay of Bengal’s resource-rich waters. In separate proceedings against each of its two neighbors, Bangladesh has referred to binding arbitration its maritime boundaries in the territorial sea(out to 12 nautical miles from the shoreline), the Exclusive Economic Zone(or EEZ,to 200 nautical miles from shore), and the continental shelf(beyond 200 miles from shore). Paul Reichler who heads the team says, “Unfortunately, negotiations have been deadlocked for years, leaving international arbitration as the only way for Bangladesh to achieve peaceful and lawful resolutions of these maritime boundary issue, and definitive borders that will ultimately allow it to access natural resources that will benefit the Bangladeshi people.” Neither India nor Myanmar has yet responded to the arbitration notifications, which were filed by Bangladesh on 0cober 8, 2009. They each have 30 days under the applicable rules to appoint an arbitrator or one will be appointed for them.  Reichler further informs that arbitration of this type can take up to 3 to 4 years from the initial notification to final decision. In addition to Reichler, Bangladesh is also represented by Foley Hoaq partners Lawrence Martin and Andrew Loewenstein, as well as Professor James Crawford of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and Professor Payam Akhavan of McGill University in Canada-(Ref:www.reuters.com).

Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka, Phae Thann 00 ,in an exclusive interview to UNB has expressed his frustration and queried that when bilateral talk were progressing why Bangladesh had to go to UN for arbitration? Since he is also expresses that, on going talk will continue in November this year and is optimistic that “one day we will have a mutually agreed settlement”, I only wish to draw his attention, right now, to the above statement from Paul Reichler and to act accordingly. He should also read the two part article  of Shah Mohammad Saifuddin, “Bangla-Myanmar Relation” published in New Age, dated 0ctober 19 and 20, 2009. 0ut of curiosity, however, I would like to enquire of him, if the November 2, 2008 activity of Myanmar of sending four ships of Daewoo escorted by two Mayanmar’s naval war ship to drill when delimitation of boundary between the three friendly countries has not been settled?

2. Prior to independence, Bangladesh was the Eastern Part of Pakistan and due to poor relations with Pakistan as a whole, East Pakistan, though enjoying the “Bengali affiliation” with West Bengal was considered as security threat and therefore India had a strong vigilant force manning the border but never formulated national policy to fence the entire border and skirmishes between BDR and BSF and shooting civilians was very rare. What prompts the Indian Authorities to evolve a national policy to fence the entire border area with Bangladesh side now, when it envisages Bangladesh to be a friendly country? Why the BSF have to kill innocent civilians and engage into skirmishes with BDR? BSF shot dead 53 Bangladesh nationals from January to September this year, Home Minister Sahara Khatun informed parliament today-Sangsad Bhaban; 0ctober 12 (UNB) i.e 6 people killed in a month and skirmishes between BSF and BDR are very frequent and  always initiated by BSF.

I believe that, the Citizens of Bangladesh have confidence on their elected representatives, to honestly and properly evaluate the pros and cons of these national matters especially that of the use of Ashuganj port, in the parliament, to form a national consensus before formally conveying the final decision to our friendly neighbor, India. However, if the 0pposition party continues to boycott the parliament, then deliberations within the parliament by the ruling party and its  alliance only, will be partial and therefore unacceptable to Citizens.  The next best choice, for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is to declare an open public debate though media and seminars  for a period of two or three weeks and then fix a date for,  “public referendum”. The 0pposition cannot avoid participating in the public debate or the ‘referendum’, because they cannot afford to loose more credibility for future elections.

My suggestions are based on facts that it essential to follow democratic system through which the consent of the governed must be obtained in order to legitimatize the Government’s diplomatic steps and the Foreign Policy. Precisely, with this view in mind, I wish to draw the attention of our Prime Minister that, unilateral decision to permit one time ‘test case’ to India would be a wrong judgment. Aristotle says, “At his best man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.”  Let us all pledge to stay within the perimeters of law and justice.