Skip to main content

After India visit twice, Hasina’s China visit a ‘pragmatic balancing act'

By Ozair Islam* 
On July 10, Bangladesh's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, concluded her three-day official visit to China from July 08-10. The leader of Bangladesh made a successful maiden trip to China after being re-elected in January. Following two trips to India in June, Sheikh Hasina's journey to China might be characterized as a balancing act. 
For the sake of the south Asian country’s national interests, Dhaka is delicately balancing between two major nations. China has been seen as Bangladesh's most important development partner, while Bangladesh views India as its most significant political ally. 
Sheikh Hasina has been managing relations between China and India in a balanced manner. As one of Dhaka’s good neighbourhood diplomatic policy, she believes that New Delhi is crucial to Dhaka. She views China as a nation Bangladesh can learn a lot from at the same time. 
Bangladesh is in dire need of improved infrastructure, more investment, and technical help due to its fast economic expansion. The World Bank claims that Bangladesh's economy has continued to develop at one of the quickest rates in the world since 2000. As a result, Hasina has guaranteed Bangladesh's increased involvement in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, which China has suggested.
Since Hasina's government's primary objective is to strengthen Bangladesh's economy,  closer economic relations between China and Bangladesh, as well as its recent elevation from a strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic-cooperative partnership, are not surprising. 
Bangladesh now places a higher priority on strategic autonomy due to the growth of its national might. Bangladesh is seen as a major participant in the Indo-Pacific Strategy, although it retains its own perspectives on the region's awareness and vision, emphasizing economic concerns above geopolitical maneuvers. 
China has been involved in the development of infrastructure projects related to transportation, electricity distribution, and communications in addition to lending money and transferring technology. Hasina has on many times expressed her respect for the route China has gone. China and Bangladesh, both emerging nations, aim to raise the quality of life and quicken socioeconomic growth. 
Because of this, bilateral collaboration may exhibit mutual respect and be complimentary. Hasina's visit brought up the topic of Bangladesh's willingness to resolve the Rohingya situation. Despite the humanitarian stance that Hasina's administration provided to the refugees, the problem remains unresolved, and the refugees are now a burden on Bangladesh. China needs a pragmatic stance in this regard to motivate Myanmar to take back the refugees.  China has also pledged to provide 1 billion RMB in economic aid to Bangladesh in an effort to reduce economic challenges.
Hasina's recent trips to China and India demonstrate her practical approach to international relations. Despite concerns raised in India on China's influence in Bangladesh, Hasina is eager to strengthen her ties with both China and India. She is seen as an amiable foreign political figure in India. In June 2024, Sheikh Hasina visited India twice. Beyond their obvious diplomatic worth, the two trips also served as a message about Bangladesh's geopolitical policy, coming immediately before Sheikh Hasina's recent visit to China from July 8–10, 2024. Sheikh Hasina's diplomacy includes finding a balance amongst the main regional powers including India and China.
Following Hasina's election victory, the Indian media focused on the nation she would choose for her first international trip. Along with other leaders of South Asia, Hasina initially attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony before going on a separate state visit. 
The choice was well received in India, which saw Hasina's two trips to the country in less than a month as proof of the two nations' unwavering affinity. The historical connections between Bangladesh and India have had a significant political influence on the current state of their diplomatic relations.
Past discussions have resolved a number of issues between Bangladesh and India, such as the sharing of water, the exchange of enclaves, and connectivity. India encircles the nation on three sides; there is no gain in a confrontation with New Delhi. In light of the observable outcomes of the visit to India, up to ten Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) and some specific declarations have been made. 
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he would send a technical team to Bangladesh to assess the benefits and drawbacks of the Teesta water sharing project, in spite of chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee’s objections. At the same time, Hasina inked 21 agreements and memoranda of understanding with China during her meeting with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping. Hasina’s visit will strengthen people-to-people connectivity, trade, investment, technology transfer, business, and economic ties with China. This necessitates keeping these two Asian influential countries in a strategic equilibrium.
Hasina prioritized Bangladesh's economic interests and did not consciously seek to align herself with either China or India. Bangladesh desires cordial relations with all of its neighbors, in accordance with her statements. Her foreign policy is not contradictory, she believes.  China has shown Bangladesh that it is a responsible and fruitful regional actor that is eager to share its rewards.  
President Xi emphasized the need for further collaboration between the two nations in battling unipolar hegemony, outside meddling, serving as a voice for the global south, the digital economy, and together creating the Digital Silk Road.  Xi's ideas align with Hasina's vision for a digital Bangladesh. China appears open to expanding its educational exchange, climate diplomacy, youth, individual, and media contacts with Bangladesh.  
Bangladesh expects to enjoy a politically stable atmosphere and be able to concentrate on its growth. Both India and China are and should remain its most reliable ally.
---
*Freelance writer and columnist based in Dhaka

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

  By A Representative   A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.
Post a Comment
»

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

  By Rajiv Shah   This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.
1 comment
»

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative   The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress. 
Post a Comment
»

The ultimate all-time ODI XI: A personal selection of icons across eras

By Harsh Thakor* This is my all-time best XI chosen for ODI (One Day International) cricket:  1. Adam Gilchrist (W) – The absolute master blaster who could create the impact of exploding gunpowder with his electrifying strokeplay. No batsman was more intimidating in his era. Often his knocks decided the fate of games as though the result were premeditated. He escalated batting strike rates to surreal realms.
Post a Comment
»

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.
Post a Comment
»

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.
59 comments
»

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.
Post a Comment
»

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative   A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...
Post a Comment
»

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey  The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians. 
Post a Comment
»