{"id":121658,"date":"2021-12-30T18:19:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T01:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121658"},"modified":"2021-12-30T18:19:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T01:19:58","slug":"sri-lanka-bangladesh-pakistan-and-chinas-quadrilateral-co-operation-in-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/30\/sri-lanka-bangladesh-pakistan-and-chinas-quadrilateral-co-operation-in-the-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan And China’s Quadrilateral Co-operation In The Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and\nSri Lanka are all near neighbours in the region. All four can share common regional\nties both in terms of their geographical proximity, development journey and\nthrough more recent ties through membership of the regional trade bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka differs in that it is\nan island economy and has been utilizing this in terms of developing and redeveloping\nits maritime facilities in international trade and commerce. Long known, even\nto the ancient Greeks as a maritime hub in South Asia, its redevelopment, with\nChinese financial assistance through the Belt and Road Initiative of its West\ncoast Colombo Port<\/strong> is poised to hasten a reset in\nregional maritime trade capabilities. To the East, its Hambantota Port<\/strong>,\nAirport and Free Trade Zone<\/strong> are beginning to attract clients\nlooking at servicing East Asia and towards ASEAN, China, and ultimately the CPTPP<\/strong>. Sri Lanka, which previously\nlooked West to India, the Gulf and East Africa, now has a dual face looking\nEast. With its Northern Port of Jaffna to be renovated and developed later in\nthe decade, Sri Lanka will ultimately end up with Ports serving the Bay of Bengal\nto the North with onward passage possible into Central Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh also joined the Belt\nand Road Initiative in 2017 and its location in the Bay of Bengal gives a\nstrategic position in Southeast and South Asia. It shares borders with ASEAN\nand India, has free trade agreements with numerous ASEAN nations, China, India,\nPakistan, and Sri Lanka and is utilizing these geographic and trade advantages.\nBangladesh is moving forward. It is going to be a next South Asian next\nmiracle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, Pakistan is the only South Asian country showing its\nfull-scale strategic significance to the region at this moment. Its foreign\npolicy has shifted towards geo-economic from geo-strategy. The China-Pakistan\nEconomic Corridor<\/strong> (CPEC) and Gwadar Port <\/strong>have added\nhuge extra regional value in this regard in terms of infrastructure and\ncapacity, with the significance of this still poorly understood. However what\nCPEC does is connect China\u2019s Western Xinjiang Province to the Arabian Gulf in\naddition to giving access to Central Asia. Some connectivity still needs to be\ncompleted, but this will happen in the next two years. Should the Afghanistan\n<\/strong>situation settle down it will further boost Pakistan\u2019s infrastructure\nuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is pertinent to understand\nthat Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are all active participants in China\u2019s\nBelt & Road Initiative.  Sri Lanka\u2019s Hambantota and Colombo Ports are\nconsidered as epicentres of China\u2019s BRI in South Asia. Sri Lankan ports can be\nused a regional maritime hub between South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia,\nthe Middle East, and East Africa. That in turn gives an additional important\nconnectivity route via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from Pakistan\u2019s\nGwadar through to Central Asia. Pakistan and Central and Western China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka and Pakistan \u2013\ntherefore have an opportunity to increase their maritime capabilities and work\ntogether in maritime trade, investment, science and technology, and culture\nthrough enhancing these connectivity opportunities. Sri Lanka has an FTA with\nPakistan and is negotiating one at present with China. It also has an FTA with\nSingapore. However, given the developing maritime connectivity Sri Lanka would\nalso gain by entering discussions with Pakistan (Central Asia access), Russia\n(Eurasian Economic Union access), Mauritius (access to the African Continental\nFree Trade Agreement) and consider how it could leverage itself into the CPTPP\ncountries in East Asia and Asia Pacific as a longer-term aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pakistan connectivity is\ncertainly growing. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Sri Lanka in\nFebruary this year, interestingly hosted also by Russian businessmen. During\nhis visit to Sri Lanka, Khan focused on Pakistan\u2019s connectivity with Sri Lanka,\nits existing use of Karachi Port and the additional Central Asian options that\nGwadar provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s Muslim community are\nwell positioned to provide Islamic packaging for these markets, which Sri Lanka\nas a Buddhist nation is less able to provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are motivations for both\nto do so \u2013 Pakistan is conduits for opening new trade corridors for Sri Lankan\nmade products, an increasing share of which will be from Chinese invested JV\u2019s\nand Sino-Lankan ventures. China will want market access to Central Asia and\nthat means via CPEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the visit of Sri Lanka, Khan commented that Pakistan is\nallocating land to Uzbekistan for warehousing and export services, and that the\nsame facility can also be provided to Sri Lanka. Uzbekistan<\/strong> is\na rapidly developing Central Asia nation and although landlocked, can access\nother regional markets that open these up for Sri Lankan made products.\nUzbekistan is surrounded by five countries: Kazakhstan<\/strong> to\nthe north, Kyrgyzstan<\/strong> to the north-east, Tajikistan<\/strong> to\nthe southeast, Afghanistan<\/strong> to the south, and Turkmenistan<\/strong> to\nthe southwest. Collectively the Central Asian nations have a GDP (PPP) of US$1\ntrillion, a projected post-covid growth rate of about 5-6% and a population of\nsome 73 million. Its average GDP (PPP) per capita is four times higher than Sri\nLanka meaning the region is a wealthy market for Sri Lanka to target for\nexports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh can also benefit from\nusing Pakistan\u2019s Gwadar port for the same reasons, with a GDP per capita base\nseven times less than the Central Asian average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maritime\nconnectivity is key. Bangladesh\u2019s Chittagong, Payra, Mangla ports can be\nconnected with Pakistan\u2019s Gwadar port and CPEC including Karachi, Port Qasim\nand Keti Bandar via Sri Lanka\u2019s Colombo and Hambantota Ports to create a quadrilateral\naccess and distribution hub. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been\nsigned recently between the Port Authority of Thailand (Rawang Port) and the\nChittagong Port Authority of Bangladesh. Chittagong-Ranong\nport connectivity could boost SAARC-ASEAN trade if connected to Gwadar port and\nCPEC via Sri Lanka\u2019s Colombo and Hambantota ports.\nThe whole regional would benefit, not just some specific countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan traditional tea,\napparel, rice, and agricultural industries, together with up-coming machinery\nand industrial manufacturing industries such as auto tyres can be mixed with\nBangladeshi apparel, medicines, fruits, and vegetables along with its upcoming\nIT services and electronic sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both\nimport goods such as cotton from Pakistan, Central Asian States, Western and\nCentral China and even Russia. Pushing this existing trade however requires a\nholistic trilateral effort. If Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can make better use of\nCPEC, they can take part in the development process in Afghanistan with Pakistan,\nChina, Russia, and Iran. The South Asian SAARC, regional trade bloc may also be\nrevived through these activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intra-regional and international\ntourism can also become a platform for services growth. Religious tourism is a\ngrowing sector, with Bangladesh, Pakistan and to some extent Sri Lanka more\ntolerant than neighbouring India, where religious differences are currently\nbeing politically exploited in favour of the Hindu mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Pakistan has many\nhistorical Buddhist sites such as the ancient civilizations of Gandhara and\nTakhsila. These would be of interest to Sri Lankans. Sri Lanka meanwhile\nhas historical places important in Muslim culture such as Adam\u2019s Peak and the\nancient Dewatagaha Mosque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nregional states, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh should be examining a revival of\nconnections with Pakistan and China. The Belt and Road Initiative has and is\nbeing built to promote such interconnectivity. South and Southeast Asian\nGovernments and businesses should be examining how best to exploit it. Chinese\ninvestments may be accelerated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s\nwell-connected Gwadar Port has brought a new dream for the South Asian region.\nThis massive Port is not only for Pakistan but also for all other regional\nStates. Chinese Investment has accelerated the pace of aspirations in this\nregard. China\u2019s multibillion dollar project the China Pakistan Economic\nCorridor\u201d (CPEC) is linked with the Gwadar Port. This excellent Port creates\nsome sort of possibilities and potentials for the entire South Asia, South East\nAsia, Central Asia, Western Asia, Eurasia, East Asia and Middle East. Sri Lanka\nand Bangladesh can reach Western China, Central Asia, and Pakistan easily\nthrough this Port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s\nGwadar Port has a very strategic significance. China and Pakistan are working\ntogether to transform the Gwadar Port into a regional hub. Using the Gwadar\nPort, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can easily access the emerging markets of\nCentral Asian states, Western part of China, Pakistan, even Afghanistan and the\nWestern Asian states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both import goods\nsuch as cotton from Pakistan, Central Asian States, Western and Central China\nand even Russia. Pushing this existing trade however requires a holistic\ntrilateral effort. If Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can make better use of the\nGwadar Port and the CPEC, they can take part in the development process in\nAfghanistan with Pakistan, China, Russia, and Iran. The South Asian SAARC trade\nbloc may also be revived through these activities. Intra-regional and\ninternational tourism can also become a platform for services growth. Religious\ntourism can be a growing sector amongst Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi\nproducts can be exported from those regions easily. The raw materials for the\napparel sector (cotton) can be imported easily from Pakistan, China and Central\nAsian states. In this case, the business relations among Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,\nPakistan, China and other Muslim countries will be strengthened. Sri\nLanka-Bangladesh-China-Pakistan (Quadrilateral) ties will be further bolstered.Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan And China’s Quadrilateral Co-operation In\nThe Region could reflect the greater regional quadrilateral understanding. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are all near neighbours in the region. All four can share common regional ties both in terms of their geographical proximity, development journey and through more recent ties through membership of the regional trade bloc. Sri Lanka differs in that it is an island economy and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}