New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahmman’s recent visit to China has secured fresh economic commitments, but experts said that the administration must deepen institutional ties with neighbouring India even as it expands cooperation with Beijing, a new report has said.
“A stronger partnership with Beijing makes constructive ties with India more indispensable than ever,” the report from Centre for Peace Studies said.
The three day state visit produced multiple agreements and pledges of Chinese support for infrastructure and water management projects, and the developments were hailed domestically as a diplomatic and economic success.
The visit, however, highlighted limits to what external partners can deliver on issues that hinge on geography and politics. Beijing also demonstrated diplomatic restraint, signalling that its cooperation with Dhaka does not upset New Delhi.
China offered technical assistance, feasibility studies, and water management expertise, but did not indicate readiness to be a party to Bangladesh’s long running water sharing disputes with India.
The Teesta River had dominated discussions, but Beijing emphasised that that bilateral cooperation “does not target any third party.”
“It reflected Beijing’s own preference not to transform Teesta into another theatre of Sino-Indian rivalry,” the report said.
Though China provides robust infrastructure financing, India remains Bangladesh’s “permanent neighbour, vital security partner, and upper-riparian state.”
The meeting’s outcome proved that lingering bilateral frictions over water sharing, border management, and security in the Myanmar frontier cannot be solved through external engineering or financing alone.
“Unlike relationships with extra-regional powers, Bangladesh’s engagement with India cannot be paused, deferred, or compartmentalised. Geography ensures that every deterioration in bilateral relations produces immediate consequences for both countries,” it warned.
The report urged Dhaka to pursue relations with China in infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, and investment, while simultaneously deepening institutional relations with India in water governance, border management, regional security, trade facilitation, and connectivity.
Despite recurring frictions between India and Bangladesh, New Delhi has continued to signal interest in rebuilding relations.
“High-level contacts have remained open, diplomatic channels have been preserved, and public messaging has carefully avoided irreversible confrontation,” it noted.
(IANS)
