Bangladesh Courts China as Delhi Ties Thaw
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- PM Tarique Rahman made his first overseas visit last month to Malaysia then China, signing agreements on a joint Teesta River technical feasibility study and a special economic zone near Mongla port
- India-Bangladesh ties are thawing after Rahman's BNP landslide in February — cross-border bus services resumed between Kolkata-Dhaka and Dhaka-Agartala after an 18-month gap, and India sent thousands of tonnes of emergency fuel via the Friendship Pipeline when Middle East war disrupted global supplies
- China already supplies more than 70% of Bangladesh's arms imports and Dhaka owes Beijing more than $6bn (£4.5bn), according to the article
- India's red line is any Chinese role in the Teesta project, which sits near the strategically vital 22km Siliguri Corridor ("Chicken's Neck") linking India to its seven northeastern states
- Anti-India sentiment persists in Bangladesh over Delhi's sheltering of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina — convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death — as well as allegations of Indian Border Security Force pushbacks of Bengali-speaking Muslims
- Beijing's reassurance came from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, who said China-Bangladesh cooperation "does not target any third party and should be free from third party influence"
- India's reset gesture was elevating new High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi to cabinet rank — described in the article as a rare move signalling intent to rebuild bilateral ties
Why it matters: The Teesta river deal is the concrete test of how far Beijing's footprint can extend into India's near-abroad: any Chinese engineering near the 22km Chicken's Neck corridor touches the narrow lifeline to India's seven northeastern states. Bangladesh's existing structural tilt — 70% of arms imports from China and $6bn owed to Beijing — means New Delhi's rapprochement is competing with leverage that is already baked in, not just starting from scratch.
