Bangladesh’s ties with big neighbours: Balance will still be the mainstay

September 23, 2024

DHAKA – Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain has spoken at length with The Daily Star on a host of issues facing Bangladesh at this critical juncture of the country’s transition to democracy. In an interview with our diplomatic correspondent Porimol Palma, the career diplomat shared his views on Dhaka-Delhi ties, Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India, revival of Saarc and human rights, among other things.

TDS: What challenges is the government facing in maintaining and promoting relations with foreign countries?

Touhid: For a small country like Bangladesh with big neighbours, it is important to maintain a balanced relationship. We’ve been doing so and the interim government will also try to do the same.

There will always be challenges. Our relationship with each country is unique. For example, three sides of Bangladesh are bordered by India. Many of our rivers flow through India. We have a lot of trade, and our ties are historical as well as cultural. On the other hand, China, our biggest trade partner, funds many projects here. We have interests in our relationships with both India and China. China and India have issues of conflict, but we have to maintain ties with both of them.

The US, which is the number one superpower, is our single biggest export market, and a major source of our remittance. Our relations with Europe is also very important. As a bloc, the European Union is our biggest export destination. So our ties with different country are different.

TDS: We’ve seen some hiccups in our relations with India, and anti-India sentiment here after the fall of the Awami League government. What would be our strategy to stabilise this relationship?

Touhid: Our strategy will be to protect our interests.