Why Bangladesh is of interest to the US?
• Bangladesh is important geopolitically because it shares borders with India and reformed and resurgent Myanmar. It is also a near neighbour to China and stands as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia.
• Bangladesh is a maritime nation and its access to open sea, Indian Ocean, is strategically an asset.
• Bangladesh’s national unity is based on its ethnicity (Bengali/Bangalee) and not on religion because the country is a multi-religious one. Its homogeneity is an asset.
• Bangladesh is the only Muslim-majority country, which is surrounded by non-Muslim majority states, and the influence of neighbouring states on its history, culture and traditions is extensive.
• The rise of violent extremist Islamic organisations is not attractive to the overwhelming majority of people who are tolerant and respectful to believers of all faiths which constitutes of about 12% of its total population.
• Bangladesh’s government, since 2009, is determined to root out the terrorist elements from the soil of Bangladesh and as a part of the effort the government has continued to address the problems of money laundering and weak border controls to ensure that Bangladesh does not become a terrorist safe-haven.
• Bangladesh provides the largest peacekeeping personnel at the UN conflict zones and is well appreciated internationally for their performance.
• Bangladesh is a multi-party democracy with a secular constitution. There is a growing assertiveness of civil society on socio-economic issues. They act as a buffer between the citizens and abuse of power, if any by the authorities.
• In recent years there has been convergence in broad economic policies, namely encouragement of private sectors and de-regulation, among major political parties.
• Bangladesh is emerging as an economically vibrant country where businesspeople have been innovative and imaginative in pushing the economic growth consistently above 6% through decades. There has also been a change in the economy as 60% of Bangladesh’s economy is connected to the global economy. The lives of the people in rural areas have gone through dramatic changes with the easy availability of mobile phones and cable TV.
• Bangladeshi nationals have settled in America in thousands and as of 2012 there are about 150,000 Bangladeshi-Americans in the US and most of them are skilled and are professionals. In Michigan State one Bangladeshi-American was even elected in the State Assembly.
For the last few years the US and Bangladesh dialogue on issues of economic cooperation, trade-related matters, counter-terrorism civil-military relations, maritime security, disaster management and UN peacekeeping role is being conducted on a piecemeal basis and the US wants to have a formal permanent forum where all issues may be regularly discussed and actions taken.......
Indian Ocean has been increasingly militarised in recent years. India, China, Myanmar, Malaysia and Pakistan are engaged in bolstering their navies to oversee the sea-lanes of the Indian Ocean. China has extended its influence into the Indian Ocean through Myanmar’s Coco Islands where it reportedly has established a surveillance naval base.
It is reported that during the visit Hillary Clinton said that the US was willing to ensure safety to the rigs of oil exploration in the Bangladesh maritime area from sabotage or other kinds of maritime threats. Furthermore the US Secretary of State indicated that the US energy company Conocophillips was interested to explore another four five offshore blocks of Bangladesh.
On wider security, many strategists suggest that the US is interested to constitute a kind of security (not military) alliance to confront North East Asia’s instability and China’s supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region with India, Australia, Philippines and Japan. Bangladesh could also be included in the loop.....
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