India Achieves Another Foreign Policy Victory In South Asia With US Seeking To Reset Damaged Ties With Bangladesh

Ties between the US and Bangladesh that had deteriorated sharply in the run-up to 7 January parliamentary elections in the south Asian country are now ready for a reset. 

Thanks to persistent nudging by India over the last few months, the US state department has ultimately realised the folly of its hawkish stance towards Bangladesh over alleged human rights violations and its other pet peeves about ‘democracy’. 

The US had severely criticised the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in Bangladesh over largescale arrests of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and activists, and Dhaka’s crackdown on Islamists. 

The boycott of the elections to the 350-member Jatiya Sansad (Bangladesh’s lower House of Parliament) by the BNP and its allies over incarceration of its leaders triggered calls by the US to release the Opposition leaders in order to ensure free and fair elections. 

The US envoy to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, faced severe criticism in his host country for what many perceived were his attempts to interfere in the elections and apply pressure on the government to bow to Washington’s will. 

The US also angered Bangladesh by announcing that it would impose visa restrictions on persons, including government officials and Awami League (AL) politicians, who it felt were undermining democracy in Bangladesh. 

After the AL expectedly swept the polls, the US took its time in sending the customary congratulatory message to Sheikh Hasina. India and China were the first to do so. 

But Washington, on India’s urgings, has now decided to reset its ties with Bangladesh and repair the damage it has done. Earlier this week, the US dispatched its senior trouble-shooter for this region — Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu — to Dhaka to hold talks with Bangladesh's leaders. 

Lu met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Environment Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Sheikh Hasina’s advisor Salman F Rahman, and civil society leaders. 

After meeting Foreign Minister Mahmud on Wednesday (15 May), the visiting US emissary said frankly that his visit was aimed at “rebuilding the trust” between the US and Bangladesh. 

“Last year, we know there were a lot of tensions between the US and Bangladesh. The US worked very hard to promote a free, fair and nonviolent election here. And it caused some tensions. This is common in our relationship. Now we want to look forward and not look back. We want to find ways to strengthen our relationship,” Lu told reporters after meeting the Bangladesh Foreign Minister. 

Lu landed in Dhaka on Tuesday (14 May) morning and had a host of engagements, including meetings with civil society leaders and a dinner with the powerful Salman F Rahman who is known to have Sheikh Hasina’s ears. 

But it is apparent that it will take some time for US-Bangladesh relations to be restored to an even keel. 

Donald Lu discussed the contentious issues like sanctions imposed by the US on top officers of Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) which it accused of gross human rights violations, labour reforms in garment sector, business climate reforms and protecting human rights. These issues had bedevilled ties between the two countries. 

Lu told reporters that these are “hard issues” that will be taken up once adequate progress is made on “positive issues” like encouraging US companies to invest in Bangladesh, granting visas to more Bangladeshi students to study in the US and cooperation in clean energy. 

The US, said Lu, is also “keen to work with Bangladesh to promote transparency and promote accountability of officials who may have committed acts of corruption”. This will, no doubt, raise hackles in Bangladesh which will view it as an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs. 

However, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud sidestepped these potential irritants in bilateral ties and told reporters that the discussions with the visiting US diplomat were cordial and that Lu had “come with a positive attitude to deepen US-Bangladesh ties”. 

Mahmud, in his separate interaction with reporters, acknowledged that the US is the single largest destination of Bangladesh’s exports, the single largest source of FDI in Bangladesh and the largest donor of aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

According to sources in India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), New Delhi has been impressing upon Washington the need to reset ties with Bangladesh because of the strategic importance of the south Asian nation and also in order to keep Islamists at bay. 

The MEA had been very worried over the ‘India Out’ and ‘Boycott India’ campaigns launched by the BNP and its allies, as well as Islamist parties and organisations in Bangladesh. 

These parties and organisations had viewed the US’ critical stance against Sheikh Hasina as a direct encouragement to mobilise public opinion against the Awami League and also India. The ‘India Out’ campaign is a strong shadow-boxing against Sheikh Hasina who is seen as a close ally of India. 

The BNP and Islamists in Bangladesh had also been trying to cosy up to China by stepping up their rhetoric against India. New Delhi feared that if the BNP and its Islamist allies gained ground in Bangladesh, it would pave the way for China and its ally, Pakistan, to increase their influence in India’s immediate neighbourhood. 

New Delhi also told Washington that adopting a hard stance against the Awami League would translate into encouraging Islamists in Bangladesh, thus endangering regional security and stability. That would also pose a threat to Washington in the long run. 

India’s MEA impressed upon the US that Bangladesh is strategically placed and can play a crucial role in the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy. Hence, ties with Dhaka should be restored and strengthened. 

Donald Lu, it is learnt, initiated discussions on two agreements — the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing agreement and the General Security of Military Information agreement — that the US wants to reach with Bangladesh. 

These two agreements will pave the way for enhancement of military cooperation between the two countries. However, both the countries still have some way to travel before they can ink these agreements. 

And a lot will also depend on progress in other fields and resolution of the existing irritants in bilateral ties, including the contentious issues of human rights and US’ insistence on transparency (a euphemism for crackdown on corruption). 

Nonetheless, thanks to New Delhi, Washington has started engaging with Dhaka. And that’s good news for India and South Asia.