How do Bangladeshi people want their future relations with Pakistan? | Page 3
cross posted:
India is a threat for both Pakistan and Bangladesh and to balance that threat, China was a good candidate as they were strategic rivals with India in the past. But in the last 20 years, China's rise was much faster and China is now competing with the US for global pre-eminent super power status. India is no longer their rival. Instead India is some one to give concessions to so they do not become a strategic tool for the US and remain neutral. So that is the current situation. BRICS and infrastructure investment in India and other such recent bonhomie between China and India are indicative of this new reality. So the old model may not last in the coming decades for South Asian geopolitics.
In the past I have looked at several possibilities, one is a Sino-Muslim alliance as a result of close partnership between China and the Muslim world. The other one was about a Japan and South Korea led Asian NATO that will include ASEAN and Bangladesh.
For the Sino-Muslim alliance, I am pretty much convinced that it does not have much of a future. The reason is lack of respect and understanding between China and the Muslim world. Not only do the two worlds (Sinic and Muslim) not have much in common in terms of ethnicity, but also religious belief systems are also completely different, which gives us diametrically opposing world views. Chinese are highly materialistic, while Muslims live to prepare themselves for an eternal after-life, a true Muslim does not care too much about earthly sensual pleasure or about accumulating material wealth. Although true Muslims are rare these days, but the ideal to strive towards exists in the collective consciousness of the Muslim world.
As for the Asian NATO, I think it may have some future, but I am convinced that Bangladesh has no place in it. Both Japan and South Korea seek strong economic and military relations with ASEAN nations. Japan and South Korea have strong relations with Bangladesh and Pakistan as well. But ASEAN nations specially those who are not Muslim will not allow a high population Muslim country like Bangladesh in their group, as it will make ASEAN majority Muslim and also there is an undercurrent of racial xenophobia about South Asian Bangladeshi's who are not really "Asian" like South East Asians.
Ever since I came to this forum, while I have engaged in many petty political debates and fights due to current events and circumstances, my main focus has always been to determine a future destiny for Bangladesh as a nation and people. So I have been looking for people and nations we can team up with. If you may recall I posted this thread to gauge people's reaction about this little known or thought about fact:
Global Muslim population will exceed 3 billion out of 10 billion by 2100 AD
That Muslim population of the world will reach at least 3.3 billion and at most 4 billion, out of a world population of 10 billion was kind of shocking discovery for me. I think there is great potential in this fact.
I am no promoter of Ummah, Shariah or Khilafah, I consider attachments to these ideas and too much obsession with them as nostalgia for a by gone era. But my interest with increased interaction and hence fostering more unity among such a diverse population is quite simple, pooling resources and gaining geopolitical power to ensure future well being, economic and social development and security. Around 15-20% of global Muslim population live as minorities in other countries, but most of them however, around 80-85%, live in Muslim majority countries or countries with significant % of Muslim population, almost all of whom are today members of OIC.
It is my belief that Muslim people of the future, whether they are Sunni, Shia or even fringe belief systems that are not part of the main stream will band together for mutual security, because there is strength in numbers. A large number of Muslims in the future may not be strong practitioners of the rituals and may become atheists or cultural Muslims as Christians in the West, but they will support the idea of Islamic common market and military alliance for socio-economic development and to enhance their national security. In the era of huge nation states such as China, India and powerful international alliances such as EU and NATO and partners, it will be impossible for others to compete in a level playing without forming their own large system entity, such as Latin American Union, ASEAN + 2 (Japan + Korean peninsula) etc.
In order for Muslim nations to unite in an economic alliance initially, I would propose to follow Turkey as the leader for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Central Asian stans. Once there is an FTA arrangement going, we should invite Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Arab League and African Muslim countries. EU Muslim majority countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo can become special partners.
Another idea is to enhance the existing D-8 group initiated by Erbakan of Turkey:
Developing 8 Countries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The idea is for us Muslims to develop a large common market and use the economies of scale in this large market to develop, manufacture and trade goods and weapons systems applying technology transfer from the West, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia. This technology should be shared among Muslim countries then to develop our own indigenous technology which will be given first preference for adoption by members of this alliance.
What will be the stance of this alliance with overlapping other regional union initiatives such as:
1. Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia
2. ASEAN + 2 (Japan and South Korea)
3. African Union
4. Arab League
5. Turkey's membership in NATO and possible accession to EU
I think the Muslim alliance can use the above initiatives to enhance relationship and influence with countries such as EU/NATO, Russia, Japan, South Korea, 7 non-Muslim member countries of ASEAN and non-Muslim African countries. In other words, the relationship between Muslim countries should not stand in the way for individual member countries own geopolitical priorities where they feel that their interest is served more from membership in these teams, rather fellow Muslim nations should be supportive of such aspirations and perhaps utilize these relationships to increase the collective influence and material well being of the Muslim world, through technology transfer and through expansion of markets for our products in these non-Muslim partner countries.
The multi polar world of tomorrow will be dominated by the West, China other emerging nations and groups of nations. I think us Muslim nations need to have a pole of our own, which has the potential to become the largest and most dominant pole on earth, as it used to be for more than a thousand years, since the birth of our Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). We have all that is necessary to make it happen again, and I am confident that enough of us will eventually come to the realization that increasing relations and mutual dependence is the solution to the problem of weakness and disunity in Muslim world.
