PITCHING FOR “extension of the Chinese language financial system”, Bangladesh interim authorities’s chief advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus has stated that with Northeast India “landlocked”, Dhaka is the “solely guardian of the ocean for all this area”.
Whereas Yunus made these remarks throughout his four-day go to to China final week (March 26 to 29), video clips of his speech have been shared by the interim authorities on its social media handles.
India has not reacted to his feedback up to now.
“Seven states of India, jap a part of India, referred to as seven sisters… they’re landlocked nation, landlocked area of India. They haven’t any strategy to attain out to the ocean,” Yunus stated.
“We’re the one guardian of the ocean for all this area. So this opens up an enormous risk. So this may very well be an extension of the Chinese language financial system. Construct issues, produce issues, market issues, carry issues to China, carry it out to the entire remainder of the world,” he stated.
For India, entry to and from the Northeast states — by means of the ‘Rooster’s Neck’ hall in north Bengal — has been a problem, economically and strategically. Over the past decade-and-a-half, this shaped an essential aspect of Delhi’s engagement with Dhaka because it labored with the earlier authorities led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on methods to transit by means of Bangladesh.
With Yunus’s feedback, Dhaka is seen as projecting its leverage on entry to Northeast India, which is a priority for Delhi. His bid to mission Beijing as the brand new companion provides a layer of complexity to the already-fraught India-Bangladesh ties.
As he wrapped up his China go to on Saturday, Yunus stated it was “essential” for his nation to see Beijing as a superb buddy and he anticipated ties between the 2 international locations to enter a brand new part. “Our relationship has been very sturdy over time. Our enterprise could be very sturdy and we profit from our collaboration with China,” he stated.
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He met Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Friday and sought extra investments to revive Bangladesh’s flagging financial system, hit by political and financial disaster. “It’s crucial that we see China as our good buddy,” Yunus stated, projecting Beijing as a balancing issue in opposition to New Delhi.
In an interview to China’s state-run Xinhua information company, Yunus stated he expects bilateral relations to enter a brand new stage.
Yunus is scheduled to go to Thailand for the BIMSTEC summit later this week. He has sought a gathering with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however India is but to verify it. Whereas Modi shall be in Thailand on April 3-4, India’s Northeast has been a part of Delhi’s strategic calculus because it engages with the grouping as nicely.
