Prime minister Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to China from 8 July to 10 July. Former Bangladesh ambassador to the US M Humayun Kabir shared his thoughts regarding the expectations and achievements of this three-day visit, maintaining a balance between India and China in diplomacy and the future of bilateral ties with the two countries in an interview with Prothom Alo. He is currently serving as the president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) in Dhaka. The interview was taken by Samsur Rahman
How far have expectations surrounding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China been fulfilled?
M Humayun Kabir: I have heard a lot about this top level tour. I had a lot of expectations. However, little of those have been fulfilled. Tangible achievements are few. There were expectations of talks regarding budget assistance amid the financial crisis, export and import transactions in Chinese currency, and investment in development of the southern regions of Bangladesh. However, we don’t see any financial commitment in this visit. But there were futuristic talks. It’s positive that Bangladesh will get duty-free access for taxable commodities from China even after it graduates from LDC (lower developed country) status.
China will provide Bangladesh financial assistance of 1 billion yuan. But nothing regarding the USD 5 billion loan assistance to tackle the reserve and economic crisis in Bangladesh has been finalised. This was one of the main priorities of this tour. Why couldn't it be done?
M Humayun Kabir: Tangible achievements in terms of cash are low. Bangladesh got only 1 billion yuan. China may provide commercial loans to Bangladesh at low interest or without any interest in the future.
The prime minister visited India before her visit to China. What should be Bangladesh’s strategy to maintain a balance between the two countries in terms of diplomacy?
M Humayun Kabir: Through these two visits, the strategic issues of India and China have become clear. New elements are being added to our diplomatic approaches. We have to be cautious. We are not interested in taking sides. Both sides will want to pull us close. We need to adopt skilled diplomacy to deal with this risk.
What are the issues to be kept in mind to maintain skilled diplomacy?
M Humayun Kabir: India and China are very often compared to each other. They will speak from their own interests and point of view. We have to be careful, otherwise there might be complications. We have been following a LDC-based diplomacy up to this point. Now we are approaching a better economic situation. We must be aware of the professional approach of diplomacy. The competition between the major powers will create new risks for us. We must strive for our national interest. Internal political cohesion should be strengthened.
Both Bangladesh and China have agreed that the only solution to the Rohingya crisis is immediate repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar. How do you see such a stance from China?
It’s good that they acknowledged immediate repatriation is the only solution to the problem. China will allow us to use a tripartite platform to solve the Rohingya crisis. We expect China to play a vital role in solving the Rohingya crisis.
What likely are far-reaching benefits to come from the prime minister’s China visit this time?
Any top level visit has multifaceted aspects regardless of who is visiting – the Chinese president or the Bangladesh prime minister. There will be some work after such a visit for sure. It will have some positive aspects. This tour has added some new elements to our future bilateral relations with China. We must enhance our abilities to make the most of it. How far we can protect our interests and earn respect from them will depend on our ability.
Thank you
Thank you too