Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is visiting India for the first time since her assumption of office in 2001 demonstrating the strained relationship of the world's poorest nation with its only neighbor. Although India helped Bangladesh achieve independence from West Pakistan in 1971, relationship has been consistently dogged by bilateral issues-especially after the assassination of its first President Mujibur Rehman by extremist forces in the Bangladesh army in 1975. From the Indian side, the crucial issues are terrorism, road and rail transit to North Eastern states, access to Chittagong harbor, natural gas pipeline right of way from Myanmar, illegal immigration, and border fencing. From the Bangladesh side, the main issues that would be discussed are trade deficit of USD 2 billion, economic and non-economic barriers to trade, river water sharing, and border fencing issues. Indo-Bangla relations are at the lowest ever point thanks to alleged intransigence from Bangladesh and heavy-handedness from India. While most analysts are not expecting major changes to bilateral relations, they are anticipating confidence-building measures (CBM) type of engagement that will mature into a more durable relationship. Bangladesh will go to polls before January 2007 and Zia will lose if she does not do better on the economic, terrorism, and trade front.