The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina’s
back-to-back visits to Japan and China provide a
diplomatic bonanza to the government bedeviled by
legitimacy crisis at home and abroad following the 5
January general elections this year. Hasina took the
opportunity to silence her critics by making substantive
gains in bilateral relations with the two East Asian
countries. Japan is generally known as a committed
development partner of South Asian countries – as
reflected in volumes of official development assistance
(ODA) pumped into the region every year. Japanese
investment and bilateral trade volume between Tokyo
and Dhaka have been seen a rise, especially over the
past decade. Japan has remained the largest bilateral
donor to Bangladesh for the past fifteen years. Both
countries have developed a strong development
partnership with growing activity by Japanese investors
in Bangladesh.
The 21 point Japan-Bangladesh Comprehensive
Partnership signed by the respective prime ministers
during Hasina’s May 2014 visit is a demonstration of
strong commitment to engage Japan more substantively
in Bangladesh’s development process. In the past seven
years, the number of Japanese companies operating in
Bangladesh has nearly tripled – from 61 in 2007 to 176
in 2013; and the total grants and aid from Japan stood
at $11 billion in 2013. Japan’s strategic intention was
to combine two oceanic regions – the Pacific Ocean and
the Indian Ocean – for what the Japanese ambassador
in Dhaka called a larger space for Japan’s economic
activities.
He added that it looks like a “butterfly” in which
Bangladesh and Myanmar occupies the “lynchpin
position” to connect these oceanic regions. Apart from
appreciating the strategic importance of Bangladesh,
Tokyo would also be happy to receive Dhaka’s support
in its bid for a permanent seat at the UNSC – and also
to the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by
North Korea. Recently, the Bangladeshi government
recognised a number of foreign friends, including a few
Japanese, for their contribution during the Bangldesh
Liberation War.
As a result, the prime minister’s Japan visit has
contributed to an agreement on a range of specific
projects vis-à-vis, inter alia, the construction of Ganges
Barrage, a multi-modal tunnel under Jamuna River, a
dedicated Railway Bridge over Jamuna River, a multi-
modal Dhaka Eastern Bypass, and the ecological
restoration of four rivers around Dhaka. A Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Japan
External Trade Organization and the Bangladesh Export
Processing Zones Authority that reserves important
facilities in 5 EPZs in Bangladesh for Japanese
investors. Japan has also committed its support for
capacity building in nuclear safety and security. In an
unprecedented gesture, Japan committed an ODA of $6
billion over the next five years that is crucial for
infrastructure development in Bangladesh.
In a rare show of diplomatic moves, Hasina made a six-
day official visit to China in early June with a 70-
member business delegation immediately after she
visited Japan. With these back to back visits, Hasina
scored high points in diplomatic maneuvering both for
her new government and the state. The much discussed
China visit resulted in five deals, including Chinese
assistance in the construction of a power plant in
Patuakhali and building a multi-lane road tunnel under
the Karnaphuli River. Chinese President Xi Jinping
described Bangladesh as an important country along the
maritime Silk Road project that he has been
championing, and which envisages enhancing
connectivities, building ports and free trade zones, and
boosting trade with littoral countries in the Indian Ocean
region and in Southeast Asia. China made it clear that it
attaches great importance to the Beijing-Dhaka
relationship and regards Bangladesh as an important
development partner and cooperative partner in South
Asia and the Indian Ocean region.
Bangladesh is an important country along the Maritime
Silk Road for China, and Beijing welcomes Dhaka’s
participation in the development of the cooperation
initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road. The issue of constructing
the Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar (BCIM)
economic corridor also garnered the interest of both
leaders as part of efforts towards enhancing connectivity
between China and eastern South Asia. However, the
absence of any deal on construction of the Sonadia
deep sea port was conspicuous. The diplomatic circles
in both countries had widely expected a deal on this
mega project. As revealed by Bangladesh’s State
Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, “Bangladesh
has decided to take time to pick the best offer over the
construction of a deep seaport at Sonadia in Cox’s
Bazar as a number of countries have shown interest in
the lucrative mega project.”
High level visits often turn out ceremonial and
declaratory in substance. But these two visits of
Bangladesh’s prime minister have been a diplomatic
breakthrough for Dhaka in cementing its foreign policy
thrust towards the east. The diplomatic overtures by
Japan and China have emboldened the Hasina
government in Bangladesh to strengthen her position
domestically and internationally. Although Japan and
China are traditional friends of Bangladesh, there has
always been a gap in their economic engagement,
particularly in the context of Bangladesh’s growing
economic and social performance. The outcomes of the
recent visits might lead to reduction in the gap,
especially amid the new matrix of external roles in
Dhaka’s domestic politics.
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