Foreign Relations
Foreign Relations Foreign relation is a process by which a state translates its broadly conceived goals in external environment into specific course of action. In doing so it generally follows certain principles which are called foreign policy. Its geographic location cast influence on foreign policy formulations. However, these relations are subject to change for the sake of the country's interests. Any change in regional and international situation may result in the change of these relations. The provisional government formed during the war of liberation drew up an outline of the foreign relations of Bangladesh before the country came into being as an independent state.
Priorities in foreign relations The national interest of Bangladesh is interpreted in terms of the aims of the foreign policy of the country. As regards choice of countries for seeking foreign relations with, Bangladesh has mainly picked out South Asia, the predominantly Muslim countries including the Middle East, the United States, the industrialised European countries, Japan and China. Foreign relations with chiefly these countries were pursued and strengthened by all the governments who came to power till now. However, the foreign relations of each government did not attach equal importance to these countries or regions; the government in power determined its preference on the basis of its ideology and the interpretation of its 'national interest'. The Awami League government put India and the Soviet Union at the top of its list of preferences. The issue of the 'special friendship' between India and Bangladesh assumed importance because of India's assistance during the War of Liberation against Pakistan, and the ideological unanimity between the leaderships of the two countries. On the other hand, Bangladesh was interested in strengthening its relations with the Soviet Union in view of the country's support in the War of Liberation, and the contemporary global situation. The domestic political change in 1975 had left a qualitative influence on the country’s foreign policy orientation of the country.
BNP government, according to its own judgement, considered the United States, China and the Muslim world to be important with regard to foreign relations. Despite China's opposition to War of Liberation, the Zia government was interested in winning friendship of the country on account of its cold relations with India. Although Pakistan recognized Bangladesh during the term of the previous government, diplomatic relations between the two countries were opened during the rule of the Zia government.
Later on, the governments of Jatiya Party and BNP basically retained the preferences of the Zia government with regard to foreign relations. After Awami League came into power for the second time in 1996 it gave priority to strengthening relations with India.
Apart from bilateral relations, Bangladesh got the membership in various international organisations like the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Commonwealth, SAARC and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and continued to associate itself with their activities. The country obtained the membership of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1973 immediately after independence. But it failed to get the membership of the United Nations in 1972 because of China's veto on the issue. However, with the normalization of relations with Pakistan, and with China's concurrence Bangladesh was granted admission to membership in the United Nations in 1974. As Bangladesh got the membership of the Commonwealth after independence, Pakistan withdrew itself from this organisation. On the other hand, after Pakistan announced its recognition of Bangladesh in February 1974 Bangladesh participated in the second summit of the OIC held in Lahore and obtained the membership of the organisation. In 1975 Bangladesh played its role as a founder-member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), an associate institution of the OIC. As the concept of SAARC was put forward by Bangladesh, it became a founder-member of the organisation. Bangladesh was a founder member of D-8 and BIMSTEC, two other regional organisations. Bangladesh was elected member in different organs of the United Nations. The country had been a temporary member of the Security Council for a term of two years in 1979-80 and 2000-01
Evolution of foreign relations Bangladesh gives the highest priority to South Asia region with regard to establishing foreign relations. South Asia comes first if issues like geographical location, common historical background, economic cooperation and trade, and above all, territorial integrity and the security issues are taken into consideration. In 1980 Bangladesh presented the idea of forming SAARC in association with six other countries of this region, namely India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. However, SAARC may be said to be in moribund state now due to dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir issue.
Apart from the SAARC set-up, relations between Bangladesh and the other countries of the region were also established within bilateral frameworks. As Bangladesh is bounded by India on its three sides, India remains a permanent factor that effects the foreign relations of the country. Despite India's immense contribution towards the War of Liberation Bangladesh soon found itself in dispute with this country about a number of old and new issues. After independence, the bilateral relations between the two countries at the state level cooled because of clash of interests regarding border trade agreement, sharing of water of the Ganges, balance of trade, and defining the limits of territorial waters. Especially the india-bangladesh friendship treaty signed by India and Bangladesh for 25 years turned into a controversial issue and it was not renewed after its expiry. Later on, owing to change of government in Bangladesh different viewpoints of the governments of the two countries on resolving disputes together with their ideological differences resulted into clash of interests which eventually made the bilateral relations strained.
Of the 54 common rivers between two countries the problem of sharing of the Ganges and Teesta water remains the most critical among the disputed issues. Since independence there was continuous negotiation on Ganges water. And a number of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and agreements on sharing water were signed in succession, and lastly a 30-year treaty, the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, was signed in 1996 which is still in force. Unfortunately inspite of many promises of Indian central government no treaty could be signed on Teesta. Even before the former Prime Minister of India Dr. Monmohan Sing visited Bangladesh in 2011 the two countries reached a draft treaty on Teesta water. However, it could not be finalised because of opposition of West Bengla Chief Minister Momota Banerjee. She continues to express her reservation about any deal. India was granted transit right via Bangladesh to connect with its north-eastern states. The use of Chittagong port for this region was also provided in recent years. Bangladesh could sign a peace treaty with nationalist rebels of Chittagong Hill Tract in 1997 with India’s support. On the hand the Awami League Government stopped all anti-India activities from Bangladesh soil of Indian nationalist rebels in 2009. This act was very significant step for India’s security.
Though India is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh in South Asia yet its trade deficit with this country is huge. There is both formal and informal trade between them. But as India’s economy is bigger it can export more products to Bangladesh. During 2019-20 Indian export to Bangladesh stood at $8.2 billion when import was merely $1.26 billion. However, due to zero tariff concession given to Bangladesh export to India is increasing. On the other hand as India imposes some non-tariff barriers the Bangladesh export is not increasing in an expected rate.
The unresolved problem of land boundary between two countries since Pakistan days was continuing even after 1971. As a legacy of partition there were a number of enclaves within each territory. An agreement titled Indo-Bangladesh Agreement concerning the demarcation Land Boundary was signed in 1974 between the two countries addressing these issues. Bangladesh effected necessary constitutional amendment without any delay whereas India could not do the same because of its domestic politics. As a result the agreement could not be implemented at that time. In 2015 India made hundredth amendment of its constitution and then the agreement could be implemented. With the demarcation of rest of the land boundary all the enclaves were exchanged. There is another very complicated dispute between the two countries over the presence so-called ‘illegal Bangladeshis’ in India. The unsubstantiated allegation from the highly placed Indian circle causes negative impact on relations. The killing of Bangladeshis at the hands of BSF during illegal crossing of international border is yet another negative factor for friendly relations. But a very significant step in bilateral relations was laid in 2014 when the much-awaited verdict on the dispute regarding the delimitation of maritime boundary between India and Bangladesh was delivered. The verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) awarded Bangladesh 19,467 square kilometres of the 25,062 square kilometres sea area.
As for other countries in South Asia, Bangladesh's relations with Pakistan had not been normal since the beginning. The disputes over the repatriation of the Pakistani citizens stranded in Bangladesh (the Urdu-speaking people who opted for the citizenship of Pakistan after independence) and the claim of Bangladesh to the assets from the period of undivided Pakistan, which exists since the very beginning, are yet to be settled. The changes in the bilateral relations with Pakistan that took place after August 1975 were influenced by the bitterness with India which developed at this point. It is to be mentioned that the relations turn positive when BNP comes to power but becomes strained under the Awami League. The relation has become cooler in recent years on the issue the trial of war criminals and their prosecution. Their trade relation has not increased appreciably.
As Nepal is very close to Bangladesh border, some common interests brought the two countries closer. Apart from trading relations there is an opportunity for Bangladesh to use Nepal’s hydro-electric power. On the other hand, Nepal could use Bangladesh sea ports using Indian land transit now. Occasional strains in the relations of these two countries with India drove them to come closer. As for Bangladesh's relations with other states of this region, beyond the bilateral trade relations there are opportunities for cooperation with Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives within the scope of SAARC.
The makers of foreign relations of Bangladesh sought close relations with the United States from the very beginning. Despite the country's negative role in the War of Liberation various initiatives in establishing normal relations with it were taken right from the period of the first government of Bangladesh. The ‘socialist’ policies of the first government or its intimacy with the Soviet Union made the government of the United States unhappy initially about Bangladesh. In spite of that Bangladesh grew interested in getting project aid, commodity aid and food aid from the United States as soon as diplomatic relations with the country were established. The food aid was the main among all, and it was supplied through PL-480. The major consideration for Bangladesh to seek US friendship was obviously latter’s global influence. As the export of readymade garments from Bangladesh began, the United States soon became the biggest buyer of this commodity. At present the export of readymade garments plays a key role in keeping the balance of trade with the United States in favour of Bangladesh.
Apart from economic consideration, political reasons also made the two countries come closer. During the cold-war era Bangladesh was of importance to the United States as the country was expected to help reduce Soviet influence in the South Asia. Besides, the United States was in need of gaining Bangladesh's support for its foreign policy in South Asia. Of late China has emerged as an influential power globally because of its rise as an economic power house. In this backdrop the China claims its sovereignty over the entire South China sea and it has become a serious concern for the US. The US administration wants to contain the Chinese move by devising an Indo-Pacific strategy (IPS) in this region. And Bangladesh’s importance for this strategy has been felt by US administration.
Bangladesh has economic relations of varying degrees with the countries of Western Europe. Beside bilateral relations the European Union (EU) is an important channel for Bangladesh in this regard. Owing to the significant diplomatic role of the Soviet Union in the War of Liberation Bangladesh formed special relations with the country. There was a political and ideological basis of relations during the Soviet era. The Soviet Union did a commendable role after independence to undertake a mine sweeping operation in Chittagong port. In post-Soviet era a significant aspect of relations was military cooperation. In 2015 Russia lent Bangladesh $1 billion to buy transport plane and helicopters for its air force. The recent example of intimate relations is the Russian state credit and supply of technical support to build two nuclear power plants of 12 hundred megawatt capacity each.
Immediately after independence, an aggressive diplomatic initiative was taken to form relations with the predominantly Muslim countries including the Arab states. This was especially important against the backdrop of Pakistan's continuous propaganda against Bangladesh. These countries gradually accepted the reality of Bangladesh and announced their recognition. The oil producing countries of the Arab world came into possession of huge amounts of surplus money by selling oil at high prices during the oil blockade in 1973. As they decided to assist the developing countries in Asia and Africa with this money, Bangladesh availed itself of this opportunity. Bangladesh also managed to secure employment for its skilled and unskilled workers in the newly-created labour markets of these countries. This way the Muslim world or the Arab states for that matter, assumed importance in the foreign policy of Bangladesh not only because of religious consideration but also due to economic reasons.
The relations between Japan and Bangladesh are mainly based on economy. The emergence of Japan as the single donor country in 1979-80 was an important event.
Bangladesh's relations with China started after 1975 and since then they were based on political and strategic considerations. It was striking that China after Bangladesh became independent used to call it an India occupied land like Pakistan. All possible means were tried by Bangladesh to normalise its relations with China. China did not respond to any of those efforts. China announced its recognition of Bangladesh on 31 August 1975. From this point on, the relations between the two countries continued to improve rapidly. China also supported Bangladesh in raising the Farakka issue in the United Nations. Apart from political matters, Bangladesh entered into cooperation with China in the fields of military and economic affairs. China came forward to provide the armed forces and the navy with weapons and training. The two submarines that the Bangladesh navy owns now have been supplied by China. Bangladesh supports Chinses planned restoration of ancient Silk Road in the name of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Bangladesh considers it as a source of immense economic benefits for her. In 2016 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Bangladesh the two countries announced to elevate their relations to Strategic Partnership of Cooperation. With Chinese loan and technological help some mega projects are being taken. Of these the Padma Bridge and Karnaphuli Tunnel can be mentioned. [Akmal Hussain]
