In South Asia, Bangladesh’s ‘deft’ balancing of US, China and India ties stands out
- Compared to some of its neighbours, Bangladesh is in good economic shape and the country is increasingly being viewed as an emerging middle power, observers say
- While its pursuit of ‘strategic ambiguity’ has given it good ties with China and India, it has also reached out to the US to reduce reliance on the Asian powers
While countries in South Asia are mired in economic crises or face a debt trap with China, Bangladesh has escaped such situations and is increasingly seen as an emerging middle power.
And despite being courted by the United States militarily, Dhaka has not been anxious to strengthen such ties as the government carries out a deft “three-way balancing” act between India, China and the US, analysts say.
In recent weeks, Sri Lanka has been going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, and is on the verge of bankruptcy due to economic mismanagement and a massive shortage of foreign exchange reserves.
In Nepal, depleting reserves, widening trade deficit and rising prices have prompted concerns that the Himalayan nation might be heading towards a full-blown economic crisis.
But not Bangladesh. At least, not yet.
While there are concerns about Dhaka’s foreign and domestic debt, Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, told Dhaka Tribune last week that the country was still in a good position in two main indicators of debt management.
“One is the outstanding foreign debt-GDP ratio and the second is debt-servicing liability as a percentage of foreign exchange from export,” Rahman said.