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The Print
2 days ago
- Business
- The Print
China to ‘solidly advance' trilateral cooperation with Bangladesh & Pakistan, says its envoy in Dhaka
Last month, the Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh and Pakistan met Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong in the city of Kunming in the first of its kind trilateral. While the Chinese readout indicated that the trilateral was not directed at any 'third party'—a reference to India—Beijing has stepped up efforts to deepen engagement with Bangladesh since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government in August 2024. Speaking at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, Yao, according to the local media, said, 'China looks forward to making joint efforts with Bangladesh and Pakistan to solidly advance the trilateral cooperation and achieve tangible results.' New Delhi: China aims to 'solidly advance' trilateral cooperation with Bangladesh and Pakistan, as the Communist Party of China seeks to deepen ties with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, Beijing's envoy to Dhaka Yao Wen said Tuesday. Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus travelled to China earlier this year, where he indicated that Dhaka is the 'guardian of the ocean' for India's land-locked North East, while calling for larger Chinese investments. Chinese businesses have heeded the call, according to Yao, with Beijing becoming the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into Bangladesh since the change in regime on 5 August 2024. Beijing also promised $2.1 billion in investments, loans and grants directed towards Bangladesh during Yunus' visit to China. Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh fled Dhaka for New Delhi on 5 August, 2024 after facing months of protests by students over the imposition of a quota for veterans of the 1971 Liberation War. Bangladesh's interim foreign minister Touhid Hossain met his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in New York City Monday, on the margins of the two-state conference organised by the United Nations (UN). It is the fourth meeting between the two since October 2024, with both Hossain and Dar agreeing to plan for further high-level visits in the near future. Also read: Beijing hosts 1st Pakistan-China-Bangladesh trilateral, says 'not directed at any third party' The strategic realignment of Bangladesh The strategic realignment between Dhaka with Islamabad and Beijing comes after a year of strained ties with New Delhi. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been living in New Delhi since her ouster, as reported by ThePrint. Bangladesh has been pushing for Hasina's extradition with an official request made in December 2024. While India has acknowledged receiving the request from Bangladesh, Hasina remains in New Delhi, even as Dhaka has proceeded with laying charges against the former Prime Minister at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The ICT located in Dhaka recently sentenced Hasina to six months imprisonment holding the former Prime Minister in contempt of the tribunal. Beijing has taken up the mantle to realign South Asia, recently expanding the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. The announcement in May came after a trilateral meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and the foreign minister of the Taliban regime Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing. China has sought to strengthen its ties with the Bangladeshi political landscape with leaders of the BNP and Jamaat visiting the country in the last couple of weeks. A delegation from the Jamaat most recently visited the country in early July. 'China's relationships with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami were hindered over the past 10 years. Now, efforts are underway to strengthen those ties,' Yao said, while retorting that the reporters 'know why' ties were hindered in the last decade, as per reports. India has long been considered close to the Awami League—Hasina's party—which has since been banned by Dhaka in May 2025. The evolving foreign policy situation between India and Bangladesh has seen both countries react to a number of irritants in ties, often publicly. Most recently, India had urged Dhaka to 'reconsider' the demolition of a house in the city of Mymensingh reportedly linked to film-maker Satyajit Ray. Dhaka, however, denied any links between the film-maker and the house, even as the demolition orders were paused as per reports. While ties at the political level have been tenuous at best, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Yunus on the margins of the BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand earlier this year. Dhaka has taken over the chair of the bloc, which has been a key part of New Delhi's regional push since the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has seen little activity in the last decade. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) consists of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Chinese envoy also said that Beijing is ready to implement the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP)—a comprehensive water management and infrastructure development project on the Teesta river. The river flows through both India and Bangladesh. Hasina during her visit to India in 2024 had indicated her intention for India to manage the project. However, since her ouster, no decision has been taken on the project. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Chinese envoy offers to help Bangladesh govt counter 'disinfo' on global media platforms
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea's Kim vows not to forget Chinese war dead on armistice anniversary
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, pledging not to forget the contributions of fallen Chinese soldiers, state media reported Sunday. Kim laid a wreath before the tower the previous day, saying that North Korea "would never forget the militant feats and merits of the fallen fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers," the Korean Central News Agency said. The armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, bringing the Korean War to a halt. Since 1996, North Korea has marked the date as Victory Day, claiming it won the Liberation War against US-led aggression. Erected in 1959 in Pyongyang, the Friendship Tower commemorates the contributions of Chinese soldiers who fought in the war and has since served as a symbol of North Korea-China friendship. Kim has frequently paid tribute at the tower on past armistice anniversaries, using the occasion to highlight North Korea's relations with China. This year's report, however, made no mention of bilateral ties, a possible sign that relations have yet to fully recover. On Saturday, Kim also visited the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang, the KCNA said. During the visit to the museum, Kim placed a flower basket before a statue of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, claiming victory in the war and praising it as the "victory of the outstanding military ideology, Juche-oriented war methods and superb strategy and tactics" of the founder. "Our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honorable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The North Korean leader also separately met with servicemen of a battery under the Korean People's Army's 4th Corps and held a photo session, describing the unit "an example in implementing the Party's training-first policy." (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea set to celebrate 72nd anniversary of armistice signing
North Korea is set to hold a series of events Saturday to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, the North's media reported. North Korea will hold celebrations for the anniversary to mark the country's victory in the Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang, and participants invited to the event arrived in the capital Thursday, according to the Korean Central Television. The media said nighttime fireworks, a parade and a variety of performances would be held in the capital. The Korean War, which started with an invasion by North Korea, ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, on July 27, 1953. Since 1996, North Korea has celebrated the armistice signing date as Victory Day, claiming that it won the Liberation War against US-led aggression. North Korea has used the anniversary to honor war veterans and reinforce internal unity. For this year's celebrations, authorities have invited war veterans and people with wartime merits, as well as officials, the media said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also sent gifts to war veterans on the occasion of the anniversary. Kim may attend the events, but it is unclear whether he will deliver a celebration speech. In 2023, North Korea held a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary by inviting then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party politburo member Li Hongzhong in an apparent move to show its solidarity with Beijing and Moscow, which backed Pyongyang during the war, as Seoul, Washington and Tokyo were bolstering three-way security cooperation. (Yonhap)
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India On Alert As Pakistan, Bangladesh Sign Visa-Free Deal For Diplomats, Alarm Bells Over Spy Fears
In a move that has set alarm bells ringing in New Delhi, Pakistan and Bangladesh have signed a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders. This historic thaw in relations comes more than five decades after the 1971 Liberation War tore the two apart. While the deal may seem diplomatic on the surface, Indian intelligence circles are concerned it could offer Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operatives easier access to Dhaka, and by extension, India's vulnerable northeastern frontier. The pact also includes cooperation on police training, anti-terrorism, and narcotics control. But what lies beneath the bonhomie? Is Bangladesh turning a page, and turning away from India? Has Pakistan found a new foothold in India's backyard? We break down the implications of this new power dynamic in South Asia and what India must brace for next.#pakistan #bangladesh #india #indiasecurity #pakistanspy #bangladeshspy #visafreeagreement #pakistanbangladeshdeal #indiabangladesh #visafreeentry #isi #neindiasecurity #southasiageopolitics #modi #bangladeshnews #pakistanintel #indiaalert #toi #toibharat #bharat #trending #breakingnews #indianews #toi #toibharat #bharat #trending #breakingnews #indianews
The Hindu
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
A father and a daughter, and the political volatility of Bangladesh
Call it providence or whatever, veteran journalist, editor, author Manash Ghosh's fortuitous introduction to politics was to go a long way in helping him understand the crests and troughs of political leaders and ideologies in Bangladesh, India's eastern neighbour. As a cub reporter, he had gone to cover the Second Asian Highway Car Rally organised by a UN body, from Tehran to Dhaka. Instead, he ended up talking to a few locals. Years later, he wrote in his book, Bangladesh War: Report from Ground Zero, 'I got talking to three Bengali strangers. Great talkers, as most Bengalis are, they chronicled for me the events on their own — from Field Marshal Ayub Khan's downfall to General Yahya Khan's rise to power, and Sheikh Mujib's six-point autonomy movement....I asked them point blank whether they were from Sheikh Mujib's Awami League. Their immediate riposte was, 'Every Bengali today, whether Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, in East Pakistan, is a committed follower of Sheikh Mujib and his Awami League.' That was in November 1970, barely months before the Liberation War. The cost of arrogance But why did the Liberation War take place? Among many reasons, was the supposed arrogance of West Pakistan's military and civil leadership. As expressed by Muntassir Mamoon who went to Pakistan some 25 years ago for his book The Vanquished Generals and the Liberation War of Bangladesh, 'The general assumption was that the people in East Pakistan, because they were Bengalis, were pro-Hindu. Rao Farman Ali, the person responsible for the murder of the intellectuals in 1971, said that the Hindus were influencing the East Pakistanis. Major General Umar, who was the Secretary of the Security Council of Pakistan in 1971, expressed the same opinion. By pro-Hindu, they actually meant pro-India.' Incidentally, Mamoon was asked, 'After the creation of Pakistan, why did Jinnah first go to Karachi instead of Dhaka? He should have first gone to Dhaka because 56 per cent of the population of Pakistan were in the East.' Probably, there lay the germ of the conflict. Cut to August 2024 when Sheikh Mujib's elder daughter Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power and banished from the country. Hasina's ouster was a little under 50 years after Mujib, once said to have had the support of every Bangladeshi, was killed on August 15, 1975. Ghosh, widely respected as an expert on Bangladesh politics, clears the cobwebs in his new book. As he writes in the epilogue of Blunders: The Power and the Plot Behind his Killing, 'There are striking similarities between what happened preceding 15 August 1975 — when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with 18 of his family members was killed — and that which occurred almost 50 years later on 5 August 2024 again in Dhaka when Mujib's elder daughter Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in a bloodless coup. While in the case of Mujib, the CIA station chief in Dacca was the specific actor, in his daughter's case, there were two actors — Peter Haas, the U.S. envoy in Dhaka, and an American Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu — who had already earned tremendous notoriety of being a past master in covert regime change operations having toppled, in the recent past, governments in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.' Power games It might appear surprising to a layman who bought into the claims of a student revolution in the country, but in Ghosh's view in the book, it was far from it. He writes, 'Hasina was anathema to Dhaka-based American diplomats who did not forgive her for rejecting out of hand their government's request to hand over the offshore St. Martin's island in the Bay of Bengal on a long lease to the Americans. The latter wanted to build a U.S. naval base for keeping an eye on Chinese and Indian naval build-up in the region. Washington wanted to have a regime led by someone who would be beholden to it and enjoyed its full trust and confidence.' It's quite possible that students and the people of Bangladesh did not understand the politics behind Hasina's removal. But what of Mujib's blunders after he had everything going for him? The picture is cleared by Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, who writes in the foreword of Ghosh's book, 'Mujib failed to punish the collaborators of Pakistan out of failed to foresee that these pro-Pakistan elements would take full advantage of his magnanimity and impede his policies for the benefit of Pakistan. One such example was the 1972 India-Bangladesh Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. The treaty was being an instrument of India's hegemonistic and Pakistan conveyed their disapproval to had not recognised Bangladesh and this was used as an excuse to decry the treaty.' Incidentally, China recognised Bangladesh only after Mujib's assassination during the dictatorship of Gen Ziaur Rehman who was known for his anti-India stance. During the decade-long rule of Major Zia's widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, the Liberation War was dubbed an 'India-inspired controversy which robbed Muslim Bengalis of their religious rights and identity'. Tragic twist Indeed, Mujib was too trusting of those not worthy of his trust. He paid the ultimate price. His country suffered too. Recalls Ghosh in his thoughtfully written book, 'Mujib, or Bangabandhu, as he was popularly known, even after witnessing acts of betrayal by his supposed 'very close' confidants, like Mushtaq and Taheruddin sought to ignore the clear warning signals. He had been warned by Tajuddin not to be blind to the misdeeds of the venous snakes in the grass that abounded in the party.' Interestingly, in a rare departure from the spotlight on Mujib, Ghosh seeks to give Tajuddin (prime minister in exile in India) credit for much of the early success, writing, 'Bangladesh would never have been liberated had Tajuddin not been the prime minister of the interim government. His unique leadership capability to bring people of different political hues, professions and religious faiths under the liberation war fold remains unparalleled.' In fact, Tajuddin went back to Dhaka only after getting the Bangladesh currency notes printed in Nashik Press. It didn't prove a wise decision for him then. From 1971 to 2025, Bangladesh has experienced political volatility. Warns Ghosh, 'Political turbulence will gather steam and instability will continue to haunt this eastern neighbour of India. Hasina's Awami League is no pushover and far from a vanquished force.'
