M.R.9
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- May 8, 2017
- Messages
- 640
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The Trump administration should consider increasing the number of port calls and high-level defense exchanges with Bangladesh as well as bilateral and trilateral military exercises.
My Question is Why ?
1) With U.S. strategy and attention increasingly shifting from the Asia-Pacific to the Indo-Pacific, the long-neglected states of South Asia and the Indian Ocean not named India and Pakistan will assume greater geopolitical significance in the years ahead. They include the landlocked Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan to India’s north and the island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives to the south. The largest and arguably most important of the group, however, lies to the east: Bangladesh.
2) The eighth largest country in the world in terms of population, Bangladesh has as many citizens—165 million—as Britain, France and Canada combined. It also has the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, behind only Indonesia, India and Pakistan.
3) Good news rarely makes for good headlines in Washington, which may explain why Bangladesh receives so little attention. Bangladesh is growing fast. Very fast. Economic growth reached 7.1 percent last year and has exceeded 6 percent for two straight decades, lifting fifty million people out of extreme poverty in the process. Looking ahead, Price water house Coopers expects Bangladesh to be one of the world’s three fastest-growing economies through 2050, trailing only India and Vietnam.
Rohingya
Although the economy is humming along, the issue forefront on the minds of most Bangladeshis at the moment is the humanitarian crisis prompted by a brutal military campaign in neighboring Burma. Beginning in late 2016, attacks by the Burmese military on the Rohingya minority have prompted more than 1050,000 + refugees to flee to temporary camps in Bangladesh. Last November U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused the Burmese government of pursuing “ethnic cleansing” against the Muslim-minority Rohingya.
Bangladesh is straining to provide for this massive influx of refugees and is appalled at what it sees as an orchestrated campaign by the Burmese military. Dhaka has expressed gratitude to Washington for the support it’s provided during the crisis but insists that international pressure on the Burmese regime must continue. Burma and Bangladesh are currently negotiating a repatriation deal that would allow for the gradual return of Rohingya refugees to transit camps in Burma but the details have yet to be finalized. Dhaka remains concerned a voluntary arrangement will not be upheld without sustained international pressure.
Counterterrorism
Like Pakistan, Bangladesh is over 90 percent Muslim. Unlike Pakistan, the current government in Bangladesh has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to Islamist terrorism. That wasn’t always the case. Islamist groups operated much more openly in Bangladesh during the tenure of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which ruled the country from 2001 to 2006. The party has been accused of harboring links to radical groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and of turning a blind eye toward more violent extremist groups like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. What is totally US and Indian propaganda
The AL which is now in power, has taken a much tougher stance toward Islamist groups—even more so since the July 2016 terrorist bombing of a Dhaka café that claimed twenty-two lives, the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history. Nevertheless, a number of terrorist and extremist militant groups with transnational linkages continue to pose a threat to Bangladesh and the region. These terrorist is also organized by USA and India.
The United States
The United States and Bangladesh signed a so called Counter terrorism Cooperation Initiative in 2013 and U.S. officials have since described Bangladesh as a “regional model in terms of counter terror cooperation.” Officials in Dhaka are quick to praise counter terrorism cooperation with the United States, which includes a training program currently overseen by the FBI and another by U.S. Special Operations Command. Meanwhile, the government is looking to add new counter terrorism capabilities to its federal police service and counter terrorism remains an area with high growth potential for U.S.-Bangladesh relations in the years ahead. Which interest will go to the west only.
Public polling indicates that Bangladesh’s population is one of the most anti-American in the region, and officials in Dhaka are generally enthusiastic about further strengthening ties with the United States. They are particularly eager to increase bilateral trade, ease trade restrictions, reduce tariffs, and encourage more U.S. investment in the energy and power sectors.
U.S.-Bangladesh defense cooperation, meanwhile, remains an area of strength and potential growth. The two currently have a high-level Partnership Dialogue and Dialogue on Security Issues in place.
My Question is Why ?
1) With U.S. strategy and attention increasingly shifting from the Asia-Pacific to the Indo-Pacific, the long-neglected states of South Asia and the Indian Ocean not named India and Pakistan will assume greater geopolitical significance in the years ahead. They include the landlocked Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan to India’s north and the island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives to the south. The largest and arguably most important of the group, however, lies to the east: Bangladesh.
2) The eighth largest country in the world in terms of population, Bangladesh has as many citizens—165 million—as Britain, France and Canada combined. It also has the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, behind only Indonesia, India and Pakistan.
3) Good news rarely makes for good headlines in Washington, which may explain why Bangladesh receives so little attention. Bangladesh is growing fast. Very fast. Economic growth reached 7.1 percent last year and has exceeded 6 percent for two straight decades, lifting fifty million people out of extreme poverty in the process. Looking ahead, Price water house Coopers expects Bangladesh to be one of the world’s three fastest-growing economies through 2050, trailing only India and Vietnam.
Rohingya
Although the economy is humming along, the issue forefront on the minds of most Bangladeshis at the moment is the humanitarian crisis prompted by a brutal military campaign in neighboring Burma. Beginning in late 2016, attacks by the Burmese military on the Rohingya minority have prompted more than 1050,000 + refugees to flee to temporary camps in Bangladesh. Last November U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused the Burmese government of pursuing “ethnic cleansing” against the Muslim-minority Rohingya.
Bangladesh is straining to provide for this massive influx of refugees and is appalled at what it sees as an orchestrated campaign by the Burmese military. Dhaka has expressed gratitude to Washington for the support it’s provided during the crisis but insists that international pressure on the Burmese regime must continue. Burma and Bangladesh are currently negotiating a repatriation deal that would allow for the gradual return of Rohingya refugees to transit camps in Burma but the details have yet to be finalized. Dhaka remains concerned a voluntary arrangement will not be upheld without sustained international pressure.
Counterterrorism
Like Pakistan, Bangladesh is over 90 percent Muslim. Unlike Pakistan, the current government in Bangladesh has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to Islamist terrorism. That wasn’t always the case. Islamist groups operated much more openly in Bangladesh during the tenure of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which ruled the country from 2001 to 2006. The party has been accused of harboring links to radical groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and of turning a blind eye toward more violent extremist groups like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. What is totally US and Indian propaganda
The AL which is now in power, has taken a much tougher stance toward Islamist groups—even more so since the July 2016 terrorist bombing of a Dhaka café that claimed twenty-two lives, the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history. Nevertheless, a number of terrorist and extremist militant groups with transnational linkages continue to pose a threat to Bangladesh and the region. These terrorist is also organized by USA and India.
The United States
The United States and Bangladesh signed a so called Counter terrorism Cooperation Initiative in 2013 and U.S. officials have since described Bangladesh as a “regional model in terms of counter terror cooperation.” Officials in Dhaka are quick to praise counter terrorism cooperation with the United States, which includes a training program currently overseen by the FBI and another by U.S. Special Operations Command. Meanwhile, the government is looking to add new counter terrorism capabilities to its federal police service and counter terrorism remains an area with high growth potential for U.S.-Bangladesh relations in the years ahead. Which interest will go to the west only.
Public polling indicates that Bangladesh’s population is one of the most anti-American in the region, and officials in Dhaka are generally enthusiastic about further strengthening ties with the United States. They are particularly eager to increase bilateral trade, ease trade restrictions, reduce tariffs, and encourage more U.S. investment in the energy and power sectors.
U.S.-Bangladesh defense cooperation, meanwhile, remains an area of strength and potential growth. The two currently have a high-level Partnership Dialogue and Dialogue on Security Issues in place.
