THE PRINT
PIA KRISHNANKUTTY 24 March, 2021
'We are very willing to be a part of Indo-Pacific relationship,' Gowher Rizvi, international affairs advisor to Bangladesh PM, said at a virtual event hosted by London-based IISS.
Gowher Rizvi | Commons
New Delhi: Bangladesh has said it is “not going to choose” between India and China as it expressed desire to join the “Indo-Pacific relationship”, though it is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“We are part of China’s BRI but we are very willing to be a part of the Indo-Pacific relationship… we are not going to choose [between India and China],” Gowher Rizvi, international affairs advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said during a virtual seminar hosted by London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies Tuesday.
The event was also attended by Pankaj Saran, Deputy National Security Adviser of India, and mediated by Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, who leads the South Asia research programme at IISS.
Though China is an important element in Bangladesh’s developmental projects, it is not “at the expense” of its relationship with India, Rizvi said. “China has a role in Bangladesh. They are an important part of our many development projects. But this is not in any way at the expense of our relationship with India.”
He added: “India is our most important partner and you cannot conceive of anything different. It would be suicidal to think differently.”
Rizvi also stressed that the “blue economy” or oceanic economy, especially the Bay of Bengal, is an important part of Dhaka’s long-term development plans. The Bay of Bengal area is fast becoming the cornerstone of the Indo-Pacific strategy.
PM Narendra Modi will visit Bangladesh on 26-27 March in his first trip abroad since the Covid-19 lockdown. The visit also marks the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, Bangladesh’s liberation war and the birth centenary of “father of the nation” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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