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Bangladesh Is ‘Major Sticking Point’ in India-US Ties
Bangladesh Is ‘Major Sticking Point’ in India-US Ties
Sputnik India
American “pressure” on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led government has emerged as a “major sticking point” in overall India-US relations, an Australian academic has told Sputnik India.
2023-12-20T13:51+0530
2023-12-20T13:51+0530
2023-12-20T13:51+0530
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The US pressure on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led government has emerged as a “major sticking point” in overall India-US relations, an Australian academic has told Sputnik India.Salvatore Babones, an Associate Professor at University of Sydney and the Executive Director of the Indian Century Roundtable, stressed that New Delhi has had a “positive working relationship” with the Hasina government.The expert highlighted that India has always been in favour of political stability in its eastern neighbour in view of its own national interest.India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last month that as a “close friend and partner” of Bangladesh, it would continue to respect Dhaka’s vision of a “stable, peaceful and progressive nation”. MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi described the election in Bangladesh as a domestic matter for the nation.In May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa regime targeting Bangladeshi individuals suspected of “undermining the democratic election process” in the country.The opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) has welcomed the US visa policy, but PM Hasina has appeared sceptical of it amid concerns that it could be construed as electoral “interference”.Ahead of the 7 January federal election, senior members of the Awami League have expressed apphrensions that the BNP was being covertly backed by Peter Haas, the American Ambassador in Dhaka.The BNP has called for a boycott of the vote and been holding nationwide protests to oppose the vote.The BNP has demanded that Hasina steps down ahead of the election and that the vote be held under a caretaker set-up, a demand rejected as unconstitutional by the government.India’s Interests Not Being Factored in US Policy in BangladeshThe India-US Joint Statement issued after a summit at the White House between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June “welcomed the depth and pace of enhanced consultations between the two governments” on Ыouth Asia.He opined that the Hasina government might not appear to have a strong a “democratic legitimacy” for the US, but Washington’s policy towards the South Asian country could backfire.
https://sputniknews.in/20231218/us-afraid-of-bangladeshs-growing-ties-with-russia-ruling-awami-league-5873452.html
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Bangladesh Is ‘Major Sticking Point’ in India-US Ties
US’ perceived electoral interference in Bangladesh and its tacit support for the opposition coalition led by pro-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been a matter of concern for India.
The US pressure on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led government has emerged as a “major sticking point” in overall India-US relations, an Australian academic has told Sputnik India.
Salvatore Babones, an Associate Professor at University of Sydney and the Executive Director of the Indian Century Roundtable, stressed that New Delhi has had a “positive working relationship” with the Hasina government.
The expert highlighted that India has always been in favour of political stability in its eastern neighbour in view of its own national interest.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last month that as a “close friend and partner” of Bangladesh, it would continue to respect Dhaka’s vision of a “stable, peaceful and progressive nation”. MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi described the election in Bangladesh as a domestic matter for the nation.
Babones said it was unlikely that the US President and the National Security Council, the principal forum for national security and foreign policy decision-making, would get “directly involved” in all of Washington’s bilateral relationships.
“As a result, the US has been pushing for greater democratisation in Bangladesh, in line with its general polity preferences,” stated Babones.
In May,
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa regime targeting Bangladeshi individuals suspected of “undermining the democratic election process” in the country.
The opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) has welcomed the US visa policy, but PM Hasina has appeared sceptical of it amid concerns that it could be construed as electoral “interference”.
Ahead of the 7 January federal election, senior members of the Awami League have expressed apphrensions that the BNP was being
covertly backed by Peter Haas, the American Ambassador in Dhaka.The BNP has called for a boycott of the vote and been holding nationwide protests to oppose the vote.
The BNP has demanded that Hasina steps down ahead of the election and that the vote be held under a caretaker set-up, a demand rejected as unconstitutional by the government.
India’s Interests Not Being Factored in US Policy in Bangladesh
The India-US Joint Statement issued after a summit at the White House between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June “welcomed the depth and pace of enhanced consultations between the two governments” on Ыouth Asia.
However, Babones contended that it was unlikely that India’s interests and preferences weren’t being factored in by the US, as far as the policy on Bangladesh was concerned.
“I doubt that the United States has considered the wider implications of this pressure for stability in South Asia,” the Australian professor said.
He opined that the Hasina government might not appear to have a strong a “democratic legitimacy” for the US, but Washington’s policy towards the South Asian country could backfire.
“Consider the parallel case of Egypt, where the US strongly supported democratic reforms, then flipped positions when the Muslim Brotherhood won the 2012 elections,” Babones recalled.
