শ্রীলঙ্কা পরিস্থিতি, চীনা ঋণ, ঢাকাকে সতর্ক করলো ওয়াশিংটন
শ্রীলঙ্কার অর্থনৈতিক অবস্থার গতি-প্রকৃতি তুলে ধরে চীনের সঙ্গে ঘনিষ্ঠতার বিষয়ে বাংলাদেশকে সতর্ক থাকার অনুরোধ জানিয়েছে মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্র। গত ২০শে মার্চ ঢাকা-ওয়াশিংটন অংশীদারি সংলাপে এ নিয়ে বিস্তারিত আলোচনা হয়। ওই বৈঠকে মার্কিন প্রতিনিধিদলের নেতৃত্বদানকারী স্টেট ডিপার্টমেন্টের রাজনীতি বিষয়ক...
Mizanur Rahman
First page 9 April 2022, Saturday | Last updated: 2:51 p.m.
The United States has urged Bangladesh to be vigilant about its rapprochement with China, citing the dynamics of Sri Lanka's economic situation. This was discussed in detail in the Dhaka-Washington Partnership Dialogue on March 20. Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the State Department, who led the US delegation, cited Sri Lanka as an example. The issue of Sri Lanka's economic misery has not yet come to light in the public domain.
As friends and development partners, the US envoys told the Bangladeshi envoys that they should think twice before increasing trade and commerce with China. He noted that the economic situation in the South Asian country of Sri Lanka was not very good, adding that they had received economic assistance from China. But ‘irrational’ debt has increased their risk.
Sri Lanka is in debt today! Official sources said policymakers in Dhaka were also shaken by warnings from friendly countries and development partners, including the United States.
This is reflected in the speeches of various ministers including the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The policy makers of the government claim that they are wary of foreign loans in Bangladesh.
Note that the huge debt refers to the troubled Sri Lankan economy. According to analysts, the situation in Colombo is a lot like borrowing ghee. They were show-off with 'unreasonable' development projects, and 'friends' became too dependent on China to implement mega projects!
Inflation, high unemployment and food shortages ওষুধ almost everything that is needed দিয়েছে have put Sri Lankans in a difficult position as a nation. There is no energy crisis, no shortage of power generation, no shortage of henna which is now left in Lanka. Unable to import paper, the school level examination in the country has been canceled! All in all, this is the first time since independence in 1947 that Sri Lanka has experienced such an economic downturn.
Food prices in the country are now skyrocketing. In that sense, it is possible China did not abandon them. However, it did not go as far as it had hoped. Diplomatic sources said that Bangladesh's active participation in the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), a priority US project, was sought in the Dhaka-Washington formal and informal talks.
The United States invites Dhaka to take full advantage of the attractive economic package offered by IPS. Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) prospects have been announced and its 'Economic Framework' will be released soon.
There is no chance of remaining neutral in the Ukraine crisis: Meanwhile, the United States has called on Bangladesh to reconsider its position, citing Russia's unilateral aggression against Ukraine. Bangladesh abstained from voting on a resolution in the UN General Assembly condemning Russia for imposing war.
Dhaka then claimed that Bangladesh had maintained its neutrality by abstaining from voting on March 2 (deliberately abstaining from voting even though it was present at the polls).
The United States raised questions about Bangladesh's "neutral position" in a partnership dialogue with the United States in Dhaka on March 20. The US Under-Secretary-General said that the crisis in Ukraine had made the world face a reality in which there was no room for neutrality. Moreover, this is not the time to be neutral. Assessing the situation in Ukraine, the US envoy said it was a model of strategic competition between dictatorship and democracy.
This situation has created an uncomfortable situation in global prosperity and greater security, which is not acceptable at all. On the issue of abstaining from voting in the UN vote on the Ukraine issue, the US envoys said that Bangladesh will always be in favor of democracy - that is what is expected. Four days after that meeting,
Bangladesh dramatically voted in favor of another UN resolution (which called for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine). At that time, many people thought that the request of the United States had influenced the change of position of Bangladesh.
But three weeks later, in a UN referendum (a resolution expelling Russia from the UN Human Rights Council on April 7 for "grave human rights abuses"), Bangladesh's position changed. This time too Bangladesh abstained from voting. However, in a 93-24 vote, the much-discussed resolution on the expulsion of Russia was passed.
