Analysts see scope of strategic balance

Extensive and tactical engagements between Bangladesh and China during the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping might create scope for the government to maintain a strategic balance in foreign relations, politicians and experts said.
They, however, said that it would be a huge challenge for the government to materialise the consensus the two countries reached so far and implement the agreements signed between the two sides. 
Communist Party of Bangladesh presidium member Haider Akbar Khan Rano welcomed the statements made by Bangladesh and China during the visit. ‘It is important that the relations with China have been deepening over the years...It is a good move instead of tilting to a single country,’ he told New Age. 
Maintaining good relations with China, a member of BRICS, an alliance against the US influence, ‘is also vital for Bangladesh,’ he added. 
The 5-member BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
President Xi and prime minister Sheikh Hasina said in similar language that they agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a ‘strategic partnership for cooperation.’ 
The documents signed during the visit included a memorandum of understanding confirming Bangladesh’s engagement in Belt and Road Initiative, a Chinese framework arrangement for organising multi national economic development primarily in Eurasia through two main components – the land-based Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road. 
The two sides also agreed on frequent engagement at political levels and continuation of military cooperation and exchanges.
Bangladesh and China, during Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit in Dhaka on Friday, signed 27 deals, including agreements involving about $20 billion as loan from China in different fields.
Noted political analyst Mizanur Rahman Shelley, also a writer, termed the engagements between Bangladesh and China during Xi’s visit ‘something remarkable’ under the present regional circumstances and global developments.’
The visit, he said, was important ‘when everyone knows that Bangladesh is close to India and vice versa.’ 
‘I think it is also good’ for politics here, he said. 
Shelly, founder chairman of the Centre for Development Research, described the $20 billion Chinese loan as ‘a boon’ for development activities and stressed the need for establishing good governance and cutting down the corruption to the minimum. 
Business firms of the two countries signed trade and investment deals involving $13.6 billion on the sidelines of president Xi’s official engagements. 
Ruling Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, also the public administration minister, said that Bangladesh had very close relations with India and now they were strengthening ties with China as well.
‘As we are working with China, we are doing so with India too... We have to maintain relations with all,’ he told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka after the departure of the Chinese president on Saturday morning.
‘China is with us, this is very important,’ he said, adding that, the visit had significance from the perspectives of politics, economy, art, culture and security. 
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the Chinese president’s visit ‘caries importance’ as China ‘has been playing significant role’ in the regional and geopolitical fields.
Former ambassador M Afsarul Qader told New Age that Bangladesh did not have overt strategic relations with any country before China. 
The statements made by the two leaders made it clear that there was ‘agreement of mind,’ Afasarul said. 
It would be required to ‘wait and see’ how the two governments ‘transform’ the agreements to a reality, he said.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies director general KAS Murshid described the outcome of the visit as ‘a huge opportunity’ and said Bangladesh ‘needs to remain engaged in the One Belt One Road Initiative’ of China.
Murshid, an economist, also stressed the need for making clear the terms and conditions of the loan agreements. 
He also put emphasis on rapid increase in the capacity of implementation of the deals by both the public and the private sectors. 
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Abdul Matlub Ahmad told the Agence France-Presse that the agreements ‘send a positive signal to the rest of the world that Bangladesh is a safe haven as an investment destination.’ 
With the magnitude and all-round engagements during the visit, a government expert on foreign relations said that the government was trying to strike a ‘balance’ in maintaining relations with regional powers in general, India and China in particular. 
During his hectic over 22-hour stay, Xi had meetings with his counterpart Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Jatiya Sangsad speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia.
There was, however, no meeting with leader of the opposition in parliament Raushan Ershad, which was a deviation from previous practice. 
Neither Raushan nor the Chinese embassy approached to the foreign ministry on arranging a meeting for her with Xi, a foreign ministry official said. 
Earlier in the morning, Chinese president Xi Jinping paid respect to the martyrs of 1971 Liberation War by placing wreath at the National Memorial at Savar in Dhaka district on Saturday. He left Dhaka for Goa Saturday morning.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net