India is a political friend, China is a friend for attaining development: Bangladesh Minister
Ahead of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China, the senior leader in the ruling dispensation said China had contributed to many development projects in Bangladesh
India is a time-tested political friend of Bangladesh, and China is a friend necessary for Bangladesh to attain its developmental goals, a leading member of the Bangladesh government has said, summing up his country’s “balanced diplomacy”.
Addressing an event in Dhaka, which was held as a prelude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s four-day visit to China that will begin on July 8, the Minister of Transport and Roads and the ruling Awami League’s powerful general secretary Obaidul Quader said that Ms. Hasina’s critics were not able to stomach the fact that under her rule, Bangladesh had completed major developmental projects with the help of China and India. He also singled out India for praise, pointing to the completion of the Land Boundary Agreement of 2015.
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“India is a tested friend of 1971. The ties between the two countries were forged by the blood stained 1971. This is a friend who helped us in our difficult time of 1971. India is a political friend. China is our friend for attaining our developmental goal and it has contributed to many development projects in the country,” Mr. Quader said.
The Minister criticised the Opposition, which has been targeting Ms. Hasina for her latest agreements with India, and said that both the partnerships with India and China have flourished under the present Awami League government.
“Why should we hesitate to seek help from friends if a need arises?” Mr. Quader said, targeting the Opposition.
Mr. Quader made the remarks at the Sheikh Hasina Chittagong Hill Tracts History Protection and Research Centre in Dhaka, at an event that was part of preparatory outreach aimed at Ms. Hasina’s upcoming China visit.
Trade and commerce will be a major focus during Ms. Hasina’s visit to Beijing, when she is expected to participate in a trade fair in the Chinese capital, the government-owned UNB news agency of Bangladesh has announced.
During the trip, Bangladesh is likely try to persuade China to extend $7 billion assistance to its trade sector. The loan is being planned as a Line of Credit that could be used to purchase Chinese goods for the Bangladeshi economy. Al Mamun Mridha, general secretary, Bangladesh China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that PM Hasina will appeal to the Chinese investors to invest in Bangladesh indicating that Dhaka expects Chinese investors would shift manufacturing facilities to Bangladesh as the country offers low cost production options. Bangladesh and China have already reached an agreement to trade in Yuan, and the loan of $7 billion in Chinese currency is aimed at reducing the pressure that the Bangladesh economy has been facing on its dollar reserve in recent weeks.
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The visit to China, which comes two weeks after Ms. Hasina’s Delhi visit, will be keenly watched, also because of the likelihood that Beijing might reiterate its interest in carrying out a major dredging and developmental project on the embankments of the Teesta, which flows through the northern parts of West Bengal into Bangladesh, where it is a major river for its northern plains.
During Sheikh Hasina’s June 21-22 India visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that India would be sending a technical team to Bangladesh to “discuss conservation and management of the Teesta river”. Subsequently, answering questions from journalists in Dhaka, Ms. Hasina had said that it would be beneficial for Bangladesh to implement the Teesta project with help from India as Bangladesh had been facing a lingering problem with India regarding the sharing of the waters of the river.
She, however, clarified later that both India and China had offered to build the project, and that a final call would be taken based on “which proposal will be beneficial for the people, how much loan we will take, and how much we will have to repay after the completion of the project, and also the capability of repaying the loan”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Bangladesh in October 2016. Ms. Hasina visited Beijing in July 2019. She has also visited China on multiple prior occasions.
- Telegram
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