China–Bangladesh Relations

Abstract

This article argues that the so-called Chinese string of pearls policy needs to be examined from the perspectives of those small countries of this maritime region that are said to be supporting Chinese strategic interests in the region by providing naval bases to China. Bangladesh neither has compelling strategic reasons to be part of an anti-India policy nor is its economy dependent only on the Chinese economy—a situation which could have pushed it into such a strategy. Therefore, apprehensions of the Indian strategic community of Sino-Bangladeshi relations constituting a larger anti-India design are somewhat misplaced. Bangladesh is likely to continue to pursue a policy of making best of its relations with both countries, even though an anti-India bias in certain sections of Bangladeshi society and politics will persist. In the post-Cold War, countries are focused on how to reap the dividends of economic globalisation and such hostile policies are anachronistic and counterproductive especially from the point of view of countries like Bangladesh that are small in terms of overall national capabilities. It is, therefore, argued that China–Bangladesh relations are flourishing in their own right, by and large free from the Indian shadow.