Opinion | India shouldn’t make Bangladesh pick sides between it and China

Bangladesh has the potential to be an arena for cautious India-China engagement and coexistence, in contrast to how New Delhi views Beijing’s ties with Islamabad

Such a complementary approach could work well for all, providing Bangladesh with greater prosperity and development

Reading Time:3 minutes

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina share a laugh in 2017. Photo: AP

Published: 7:00pm, 2 Oct 2019Updated: 7:12pm, 2 Oct 2019

Bangladesh and India have long been close, right from the former’s emergence as an independent sovereign state in 1971. But in 2003, China overtook India as Bangladesh’s primary trading partner – and has remained so ever since.

This is something Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should keep in mind when he receives his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.

As of 2017, India’s total two-way trade with Bangladesh was less than US$7 billion – half the figure between Bangladesh and China.

Dhaka has also signed up to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, enabling it to receive generous financial support for infrastructure development – such as the loan of US$23 billion agreed to by President Xi Jinping in 2016 when he became the first Chinese leader to visit Bangladesh for three decades. Almost US$14 billion worth of memorandums of understanding were also signed during the same trip.

Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Bangladesh in 2016. Photo: AFP

This level of trade and investment is unlikely to be matched by India any time soon.