Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina is just back from a five-day visit to China and the outcome of the talks she had with the Chinese leadership is seen as "productive", contributing significantly to further strengthening the cordial ties between the two countries.
The PM's visit to China came close on the heels of her visit late last month to Japan, another global economic power.
The visits of Sheikh Hasina to two important Asian nations very much fall in line with the need for the much-desired consolidation of relations with the nations of the "East". It is expected that Dhaka's ties, particularly in the economic arena, would now receive a new impetus, as far as Tokyo and Beijing are concerned.
While Bangladesh's economic and other forms of cooperation with the "West" are very much in place, an impression existed that the same was not exactly the case with the countries of the "East". If there has, at all, been any slackening in the area of developing strong economic ties with Beijing and Tokyo, Hasina's visit has definitely plugged that gap, on some real or perceived grounds.
This is so, notwithstanding the fact that Bangladesh's bilateral relations with both the countries have been quite cordial and cooperative for many years.
During Sheikh Hasina's visit to China, the process of sustainable multi-faceted cooperation has further been enlarged in the shape of signing of several accords. Five instruments, one memorandum of understanding (MoU) and exchange of two letters of intent are obviously aimed at increasing the cooperation in such varied fields like trade and investment, power generation and climate change.
A conducive environment for greater bilateral cooperation between Dhaka and Beijing was created before the Prime Minister undertook the visit when Bangladesh awarded the much talked-about work for the "Dream Bridge" on the river Padma, to a Chinese firm. The 6.15 km-long bridge is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 and that would then mark the realisation of a long cherished desire of the country, especially of the people of its southern region. The bridge would play a pivotal role in enlarging the trade and commerce in Bangladesh as much as it would greatly ease the mobility of the people by facilitating better communications.
Bangladesh-China relations in the political sphere are close as both nations respect each other's sensitivities and work on many matters, in tandem, for promotion of world peace and stability. They also share their perceptions on regional matters as exchanges of visits at different levels have also helped "people-to-people" contacts between two friendly nations. Dhaka supports the "One China" policy while Beijing praises Bangladesh's quest for peace through promotion of friendship with all nations.
However, it is economic cooperation with China, which has emerged as a model for development. This has stolen the limelight of Sheikh Hasina's visit to China that included, among others, attending important events in Kunming, in addition to holding meetings at the highest level in the capital city of Beijing.
Meanwhile, no specific accord on the construction of a deep-sea port could be clinched during the visit as it would require further talks and evaluations. Both nations would continue discussions on this matter, which is of immense interests to Bangladesh.
So far so good. The prime minister's visit to Japan, a long-time development partner of Bangladesh, was marked by a number of remarkable deals on economic assistance from Tokyo for execution of many important development projects of this country. Japan's assistance in support of Bangladesh's economic development efforts is not a new phenomenon. But it appears that Tokyo has gone out of its way in coming out with more concrete pledges about funding such projects on a larger scale than before. This has, indeed, been a remarkable gesture from the Japanese government, which also values its political ties with Dhaka.
Although broadly categorised as a powerful member of the Group of Seven (G-7) that represents the world's most developed economies, Japan is essentially a country of the "East", being a nation of East Asia. Japan's assistance in several fields of Bangladesh's development is quite noticeable and that would be further expanded, following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Japan.
It can be concluded without any iota of doubt that Dhaka's ties with both China and Japan are happily growing and this trend needs to be maintained, regardless of considerations of issues on which there might be a lack of convergence of views with both Beijing and Tokyo since all are sovereign nations. For instance, two economic giants of Asia are locking horns over the disputes in their territorial waters in the sea. A country like Bangladesh which is friendly to both nations, hardly needs to show any support to either of them on such divisive issues. Likewise, some vexed international issues may also be potentially divisive matters so far Bangladesh's ties with China and Japan are concerned. But what is important here for Dhaka is to protect its own national interests. Regional rivalry among the countries may also prove yet another thorny issue for Bangladesh. But Dhaka is required to navigate its path with great circumspection.
The bottom line is that Bangladesh needs to maintain close relations with nations like China and Japan without annoying other friendly countries. The government is seeking to pursue this line. But it is economic cooperation that weighs heavily for Dhaka; Hasina's back-to-back visits to Tokyo and Beijing have been quite remarkable when the same are judged from that point of view.
zaglulchowdhury@ yahoo.com
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
