{"id":122276,"date":"2022-01-20T17:43:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T00:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=122276"},"modified":"2022-01-20T17:43:36","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T00:43:36","slug":"bangladesh-needs-both-the-usa-and-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/20\/bangladesh-needs-both-the-usa-and-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh Needs Both The USA And China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mehjabin Bhanu Rajshahi City Corporation in Bangladesh<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Bangladesh needs both the USA and\nChina. Now, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal get attention from world powers.\nUS, UK, China, India and Japan have focused their attention on South Asia,\nBangladesh and ‘Bay of Bengal’. US has shifted its policy from ‘Asia Pacific’\ntowards ‘Indo Pacific’ to counter China’s ‘BRI’. Both parties want Bangladesh\ninto their respective blocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\u2019s\npolices are not towards bipartisan international politics. Bangladesh was an\nactive member of the \u2018Non-Aligned Movement\u2019. Bangladesh has no intention and\ninterest to join any bloc. But Bangladesh has the intention to be benefitted\nfrom the blocs. Bangladesh wants and believes in peaceful coexistence in the\nregion. It always avoids any kind of clash with any actor. Despite having\nprovocation from Myanmar during the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017, it\nabstained from using any kind of force. Bangladesh knows the Strategy. Bangladesh\nis balancing successfully with \u2018BRI\u2019 and \u2018IPS\u2019.  Whether Bangladesh is involved in the US-led\nIndo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) or the Chinese-led Belt and Road (BRI), it must\nmaintain peace and the rule of law in the region to reap the maximum economic benefits\nfrom these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh still believes in the\n\u2018relevance\u2019 of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), State Minister for Foreign\nAffairs Md Shahriar Alam said at the summit in Venezuela in 2016. NAM was set\nup during the Cold War era as an association of countries that did not wish to\ntake sides with either the US or the Soviet Union. Basically, Bangladesh wasn\u2019t\nto take sides either the US or the Soviet Union. But after the demise of the\nUSSR, the present USA-China rivalry remembers the past. The participation of\nBangladesh in the 18th summit of the multilateral forum Non-Aligned Movement\n(NAM) held in Baku of Azerbaijan in 2019 further strengthened the country\u2019s\nposition in the international arena. Bangladesh\u2019s position in the international\narena is neutral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard, Bangladesh is\nhandling this issue tactically. It avoids its involvement with the blocs\ndirectly. Having request from the US for years, Bangladesh didn’t show any\ninterest to sign the ACSA (Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement) and GSOMIA\n(General Security of Military Information Agreement) agreement with the US. On\nthe other hand, When the Chinese Envoy to Bangladesh commented that Bangladesh\nshouldn’t join IPS last year, Bangladesh strongly protested against the remarks\nuttered by the Chinese envoy saying Bangladesh is capable to form its own\nnational policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nBangladesh wants and believes in peaceful coexistence in the region. Whether\nBangladeshis are involved in the US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) or the\nChinese-led Belt and Road (BRI), it must maintain peace and the rule of law in\nthe maritime region to reap the maximum economic benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But US may target Bangladesh because\nBangladesh is an active partner of the Chinese BRI project. Recent sanctions on\nBangladesh RAB are the clear-cut example to understand it. But the US should\nunderstand that Bangladesh is also with the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The USA is the main export\ndestination of Bangladeshi garments. Bangladesh also believes in the US\u2019s \u2018Free\nand open Indo pacific strategy. Bangladesh needs both the USA and China\nsimultaneously for its development process. It is pertinent to mention that\nBangladesh wants to be a welfare state in South<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asia. Its economic success is now\npraiseworthy. Thus, it needs both the USA, China, EU for ensuring the pace of\nthe rapid economic growth. The US shouldn\u2019t be worried about Bangladesh.\nBangladesh strongly believes in friendship with all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the various open\nsources, Bangladesh is America’s main ally in South Asia. The two countries\nhave extensive cooperation in regional and global security, counter-terrorism\nand climate change. Bangladesh is an important participant in the Obama\nadministration’s major international development initiatives, including food\nsecurity, healthcare and the environment. In 2012, a strategic dialogue\nagreement was signed between the two countries. In 2015, US Ambassador to\nBangladesh Marcia Bernikat described the relationship as “vibrant,\nmultifaceted and essential”. As of 2016, Bangladesh is the largest\nrecipient of US assistance in Asia outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The\nUS-Bangladesh relationship is strengthened by the Bangladeshi American\ncommunity. Fazlur Rahman Khan designed the United States’s tallest tower in\nChicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the data of the US State Department and US\nEmbassy to Bangladesh, the United States is the largest export market in\nBangladesh. The United States is one of the largest sources of foreign direct\ninvestment in Bangladesh. The largest American investment in the country is\nChevron, which produces 50% of Bangladesh’s natural gas. Bilateral trade in\n2014 was the US $ 6 billion. The major US exports to Bangladesh are\nagricultural products (soybean, cotton, wheat, dairy products), aircraft,\nmachinery, engines and iron and steel products. American imports from\nBangladesh include clothing, footwear and textile products; Toys, games and\nsporting goods; Shrimp and shrimp; And agricultural products. There are many\nBangladeshi students in U.S. universities. The United States has assisted Bangladesh\nduring cyclone relief operations in 1991 and 2007 In 2017, U.S. direct\ninvestment in Bangladesh was $460 million, an increase of 0.4 per cent from\n2016. Bangladesh’s exports to the US were valued at $9.4 billion between\nJanuary and October last year. Bangladesh and the United States belong\nto a number of the same international organizations, including the\nUnited Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, International Monetary Fund, World Bank,\nand World Trade Organization. According to the media reports, the American\ngovernment also donated $218 million as Covid-19 donations alongside 28 million\nvaccines. In addition, a US company has signed an agreement with Bangladesh to\ninstall the undersea submarine cable at a cost of $700 million to $1 billion by\n2023 that will connect France via Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthe other hands, though China and Bangladesh shared an adversarial relationship\nduring the latter\u2019s independence movement and immediately after that, the\nrelationship has undergone a tremendous transformation to the extent that China\nis now considered by many in Bangladesh as an \u2018all-weather friend\u2019. They\nestablished diplomatic ties in 1976; it was defence ties that was an important\narea of their relationship, which led to further expansion of ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China,\nthe largest economy in Asia, has decided recently to grant duty-free access to\n98% of Bangladeshi products through the inclusion of 383 new products,\nespecially leather and leather goods, in the zero-treatment list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the media reports, Over the past 46 years, the relationship between China\nand Bangladesh has been developing, with mutual cooperation and friendship on\nboth sides. In the international arena, Bangladesh has, to the best of its\ncapacity, maintained unwavering support for the “One China Policy” and\nChina’s peaceful rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data of various media outlets, from\nJanuary to July 2021, the overall import and export volume of China and\nBangladesh was $13 billion, a rise of 58.9 percent year on year. China has\nbecome Bangladesh’s largest trading partner, and Bangladesh is China’s third\nlargest trading partner and third largest engineering contracting market in\nSouth Asia. Although there is trade deficit between the two trade ties, China\nshould consider this. Bangladesh is an important participant in China’s Belt\nand Road Initiative and one of the first countries to respond to China’s Belt\nand Road Initiative. Although bilateral trade favors\nChina heavily, Bangladesh has enormous potential in the Chinese markets.. Affected by the\nfavorable policy of the official entry into force of the zero-tariff treatment\nof 98% of Bangladesh\u2019s tariff items exported to China, Bangladesh\u2019s exports to\nChina may show a growth in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nOctober 14, 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Bangladesh on a historic\nvisit. During that visit, China announced huge investments in various sectors\nof Bangladesh. The implementation of those investment projects is now in full\nswing. Among the ongoing projects are the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project,\nKarnafuli Tunnel, Dhaka-Chittagong Highway Four Lane Upgradation, Payra Port\nDevelopment, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Railway Project, Power Grid Network\nStrengthening Project, Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway, Dhaka-Sylhet Four\nLane Highway etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nthe Corona period, China showed that the \u2018friend of danger is the real friend\u2019.\nDuring the covid-19 pandemic, China has shown that the \u2018friend in need is a\nfriend indeed, and at this time, China has bound Bangladesh with the belief\nthat \u2018the boats of love sails mountain\u2019. The country once again extended a\nhelping hand to Bangladesh when vaccination diplomacy was in dire straits to\nget the coronavirus vaccine. China has given 1.2 million vaccines to Bangladesh\nin two phases as a gift and has assured that the country will supply tens of\nmillions of vaccines to Bangladesh step by step commercially. It is expected\nthat China will soon start vaccination production in a joint venture with\nBangladesh in addition to supplying vaccines. The two countries are also\ndiscussing this. Lee Jimming, the country\u2019s ambassador to Dhaka, said that the\nfriend of danger is the real friend. Bangladesh will remember this friendship\nwith China. The Bangladesh Army has been equipped with Chinese tanks, its navy\nhas Chinese frigates and missile boats and the Bangladesh Air Force flies\nChinese fighter jets. In 2002, China and Bangladesh signed a “Defence\nCooperation Agreement” which covers military training and defence\nproduction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe line with the above-mentioned discussions, we can say that Bangladesh needs\nboth China and USA. Despite having various challenges, Bangladesh is going to\nbe a South Asian economic miracle and a welfare state in South Asia. Thus, it\nis the moral responsibility of both China and the USA to cooperate with\nBangladesh. Bangladesh wants to coexist with all actors in the regions. The\nrise of Bangladesh in South Asia is very peaceful. It believes in perpetual\npeace. Of course, to achieve the ultimate goal, Bangladesh needs both USA and\nChina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mehjabin Bhanu Rajshahi City Corporation in Bangladesh Bangladesh needs both the USA and China. Now, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal get attention from world powers. US, UK, China, India and Japan have focused their attention on South Asia, Bangladesh and ‘Bay of Bengal’. US has shifted its policy from ‘Asia Pacific’ towards ‘Indo Pacific’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122276","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=122276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}