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Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on a four-day visit to China that started on Monday amid expectations about bilateral ties being elevated to a comprehensive strategic-cooperative partnership. This is considered the third-highest level of relationship China confers on other countries.
Balancing act is the name of the game when it comes to handling delicate foreign relations. Specially in a scenario of two hostile countries, unless there is a compelling reason for picking a side, diplomacy demands that there should be no overt expression of loyalty to one or the other.
And that’s precisely what Sheikh Hasina seems to be undertaking in her visit to China barely two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted her in India. The visit begins at a time when Dhaka has been showing clear inclinations towards China. Should this worry India?
Before we answer that, Dhaka would do well to remember that China had opposed the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 and used its UN Security Council veto to block its membership on several occasions. China recognised Bangladesh as an independent country much later on August 31, 1975, weeks after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
India’s active participation in the liberation of Bangladesh is also widely known. therefore, the key question now would be how resolute Prime Minister Hasina will be in resisting any Chinese attempts that might undermine Bangladesh’s ties with India.
As for India’s concerns, the first one is around the issue of FTA or free trade agreement. India will be interested to know the contours of the likely FTA as a country that gives Bangladeshi products free access to India while paying duties for market access there. So, It will indeed be a concern if Chinese goods get concessions in Bangladesh.
Secondly, the strategically important Mongla Port, where all the development was taking place under an Indian line of credit. Now the Chinese are interested in activities like constructing jetties and a container yard, this is sure to cause discomfiture to India.
Thirdly, if the Teesta water sharing issue surfaces during the visit, it could complicate matters for India. While Bangladesh has been waiting for a water-sharing deal with India for more than a decade, China reached out to Hasina with a proposal to dredge the river and create reservoirs and embankments along it around four years ago.
During her recent India trip, Modi too offered assistance for conservation and management of the trans-boundary river. India can ill afford to have China in the mix in a sensitive issue like this one, specially if that gives Bangladesh a greater bargaining power.
Sensing the possible concerns from India, Obaidul Qader, general secretary of the ruling Awami League and a minister, tried to put Dhaka’s contrasting relations with New Delhi and Beijing in perspective by saying ‘India is a time-tested political friend of Bangladesh, and China is a friend necessary for Bangladesh to attain its developmental goals’. Whether such a clarification be enough to assuage concerns when all indications are towards Dhaka’s growing dependence on Beijing, is anybody’s guess.
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