US, Bangladesh edging closer day by day reflects better mutual understandings
Indrajit Kumar a. educator, Op-ed columnist, international affairs analyst and freelance researcherIndrajit Kumar a. international affairs analyst and freelance researcher
The US-Bangladesh relations have taken a positive turn after Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs AK Abdul Momen visited Washington, D.C. and met his US counterpart Antony Blinken on April 10, 2023. This meeting comes after a series of trips by high-ranking US officials to Bangladesh and the hosting of bilateral dialogues and joint military exercises over the previous year that indicate a positive turn in US-Bangladeshi relations. Additionally, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s successful visit to the US has further strengthened the ties between the two nations.
Overview of Bangladesh-US relations
Since its independence in 1971, Bangladesh and the US have usually maintained extensive political, economic, military, cultural, and humanitarian relations with each other. While Dhaka has carefully pursued a non-aligned and relatively well-balanced foreign policy during and after the Cold War, it has sometimes demonstrated a ‘tilt’ in its foreign policy towards the US. On its part, Washington has maintained cordial relations with both the military dictatorships in Dhaka in the late 1970s and 1980s and the democratic governments in the post-1990 period. So far, Dhaka and Washington have held eight partnership dialogues and eight security dialogues to bolster their political and security ties.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the United States has resulted in several agreements and commitments, including support for future development projects. The visit has showcased the progress and potential of the country in various sectors, and the meetings and events during the visit demonstrated a significant diplomatic effort towards strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. The following paragraphs will discuss some of the key outcomes of the visit.
Cooperation under the framework of ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy
The US wants to see its presence in the Indo-Pacific on a larger scale and wants Bangladesh as a partner in the region. As a host country of the recent Indian Ocean Conference, Bangladesh has proved again it really wants work together with all the stakeholders. that it really the overarching goal of Bangladesh’s recent Indo-Pacific Outlook is to enhance country’s ties with the USA and West, engagement in this region, accelerates economic growth, and addresses common issues shared by the other nations. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh had announced a fresh Indo-Pacific Outlook to highlight Bangladesh’s geopolitical standpoint on the region as well as its objectives to move forward as a nonalignment foreign policy. In other words, Bangladesh will likely to clarify on its own stance in the Indo-Pacific region through Indo-Pacific Outlook to take the position of regional leader, rather joining any political bloc. Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific outlook hews closely to that of the USA. Bangladesh also orients its Indo-Pacific outlook on the economic core, while security remains subservient to economic interests.
In this way, USA-Bangladesh relations would reach a new level. Bangladesh could gain trust from the US government because USA is an active member of the Indo-Pacific alliance. It aims to strengthening regional economic cooperation, guaranteeing the security of maritime commerce, combating climate change, investment opportunities and introducing new strategic alliances with other countries. Through upholding norms of international order, the freedom of trade and commerce, prosperity and the sovereign equality of all countries, their outlook aims to help advance the goal of an open, free and fair Indo-Pacific region. In addition, Bangladesh aspires to boost economy through increasing investment and trade; particularly in the areas of public investment and technological networking. The past years witnessed a flurry of USA delegation to Bangladesh and heralded a new epoch of bilateral partnership. In such context, the visit foregrounded the issues of Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) to the spotlight. Against this backdrop, the issue of prioritizing Indo-Pacific Strategy in the bilateral ties of Bangladesh and United Sates has been underscored. The visit had widely been framed as a historical conjuncture to solidify strategic engagement.
Trends of US-Bangladesh relations
Bangladeshi citizens needn’t spark any new controversy and worry based on the recent human rights report. US-Bangladesh bilateral relations wouldn’t affect. This is not the first time the US produces a study like this in recent years. There isn’t much of a difference between those and the latest report. Many hoped that the Biden administration was going to impose more sanctions on Bangladesh government. But US hasn’t imposed new sanctions on Bangladesh. Bangladesh has recently had the US-Bangladesh Partnership dialogue, Donald Lu, Victoria Nuland’s recent Bangladesh visits, the praiseworthy comments of the President Joe Biden regarding US willingness to engage with the current Bangladesh regime.
Increasing cooperation among the countries can be easily identified through several dialogues and joint training programs that have taken place in the last two years. Bangladesh and the US held the Partnership Dialogue and Security Dialogue in 2022 after a pause due to the pandemic. The dialogues are annual arrangements between the countries and have taken place every year since 2012. The US Navy also attended Bangladesh’s International Fleet Review in December 2022.
Joe Biden’s comment is very important in this regard. It is clear that Joe Biden has keen interest in engaging, cooperating with the Hasina regime in Bangladesh. US president Joe Biden said Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has set an example of compassion and generosity for the world. In his letter to Sheikh Hasina wishing the great Independence Day, he wished for the progress and development of Bangladesh. In the letter, the US president said, Bangladesh has opened its borders and welcomed nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees.
