United States is strengthening military relations with Bangladesh

[VikingRaider]

What makes you think Bangladesh is any different from any other country.

Its asymmetric my friend.

The US holds most if not all leverage in the relationship.

Whether its Bangladesh or Egypt or whoever.

well if this is the reality then no agreement with them , at least it is my opinion . But I think they ( officials ) may not hear us . So ok let's leave it to the officials of both countries .
Surely I am against anything that harm Bangladeshi interest . I would rather die before becoming anyone's slave .

sir i m sorry to inform you tht FMS and AID also work with these terms which i mention too . there is no equal ally .allies consider as slaves by USA .

 

[Mage]

What I don't understand is, why BD has to choose between China and the West. As far as I'm concern, BD does not need to choose. Where backing China is in BD's interest BD should do so and where backing the West or US is in BD's interest it should do so.

I'm not willing BD to join in one camp just because of some cheap fighters. BD should be in it's own camp. Friendly with the West and US and Friendly with China, India, Japan etc.

 

[UKBengali]

What I don't understand is, why BD has to choose between China and the West. As far as I'm concern, BD does not need to choose. Where backing China is in BD's interest BD should do so and where backing the West or US is in BD's interest it should do so.

I'm not willing BD to join in one camp just because of some cheap fighters. BD should be in it's own camp. Friendly with the West and US and Friendly with China, India, Japan etc.

BD is large enough to stay non-aligned.
It should forge close military links with countries like Turkey and Japan.

 

[Imran Khan]

well if this is the reality then no agreement with them , at least it is my opinion . But I think they ( officials ) may not hear us . So ok let's leave it to the officials of both countries .
Surely I am against anything that harm Bangladeshi interest . I would rather die before becoming anyone's slave .

bhai USA is devil .once you trapped you have no escape . that is why they hate us because we play double game . we know if we follow them blindly we will be destroyed . and that is why US hate us .

 

[Species]

Keep on dreaming absurd things. But, let the US talk about all those securities in the Malacca Straits and oil and gas. Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia have oil and gas and not BD. The USA has a practical presence in the nearby areas such as Guam, Okinawa, mainland Japan, and South Korea.

BD does not stand strong in importance to the US. It is BD that needs security for its foreign trade, so it should build up its forces even to tackle the threat from a small Burma. The USA needs no base in Teknaf when it is already softening its presence even in the west Pacific.

Let me ask you one question. What benefits BD will get of a presence of US military on its soil except that the spoilers like the ISIS and Taliban will get a good cause to destabilize our region.

His post makes sense to be honest. The main idea of Indo-Pacific strategy of the US is to shift their presence from the Pacific to Indian Ocean and Eastern Pacific.

I don't think US will demand establishing a military base rather agreements that would ease their troop deployments during a conflict like LEMOA, SOFA etc.

It's time we start taking global geopolitics seriously. We need to stay alert since now it is going to directly affect us.

180911-N-WY954-122 HONOLULU (Sept. 11, 2018) Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), right, speaks with Bangladesh Army Lt. Gen. Mahfuzur Rahman, head of the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division, at the USINDOPACOM-hosted Chiefs of Defense conference (CHODS). The CHODS conference provides a forum for military leaders from throughout the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen military-to-military relationships, discuss common defense issues and foster regional cooperation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robin W. Peak/Released)

If you take a look at the picture above, it seems like Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is leaning towards Gen. Mahfuzur Rahman while talking and not the other way round. The body language is a signal that the US is quite interested in Bangladesh's role in the Indo-Pacific strategy.

 

[Avicenna]

His post makes sense to be honest. The main idea of Indo-Pacific strategy of the US is to shift their presence from the Pacific to Indian Ocean and Eastern Pacific.

I don't think US will demand establishing a military base rather agreements that would ease their troop deployments during a conflict like LEMOA, SOFA etc.

It's time we start taking global geopolitics seriously. We need to stay alert since now it is going to directly affect us.



If you take a look at the picture above, it seems like Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is leaning towards Gen. Mahfuzur Rahman while talking and not the other way round. The body language is a signal that the US is quite interested in Bangladesh's role in the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Yea I have to agree with you about the pic.

Perhaps he wanted to know a good place to get some kala jamun?

 

[bluesky]

It could be that Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), was trying to grasp what Bangladesh Army Lt. Gen. Mahfuzur Rahman was talking with his Bengalised English. So the former is leaning towards the latter. After all, BD people are not the native speaker of English. However, a meeting attended by top military people is not without a deep meaning. Of course, the US military Commander is giving importance to the BD Commander.

 

[VikingRaider]

bhai USA is devil .once you trapped you have no escape . that is why they hate us because we play double game . we know if we follow them blindly we will be destroyed . and that is why US hate us .

Yes I understood now man. The world politics is really dirty and sometimes beyond our imagination .

 

[Mage]

bhai USA is devil .once you trapped you have no escape . that is why they hate us because we play double game . we know if we follow them blindly we will be destroyed . and that is why US hate us .

Bhai no one is saint in world politics. Blindly following anyone would only escalate your destruction.

BD is large enough to stay non-aligned.
It should forge close military links with countries like Turkey and Japan.

BD is or eventually will be strong enough to stay non-aligned BD. I would hate to see BD being a b!tch to USA or China. It is not in BD's interest either. USA and China both has helped BD in many ways since it's independence. And both still are important partner of BD in different ways. We can/should use China to minimize India's influence. We should use USA to appeal to west and for economic backing and in political issues like Rohingya issue. Choosing one and being unfriendly with the other is not an option here. That being said we must not allow a US naval base in our waters. Other than that cooperation are always welcomed.

 

[UKBengali]

BD is or eventually will be strong enough to stay non-aligned BD. I would hate to see BD being a b!tch to USA or China. It is not in BD's interest either. USA and China both has helped BD in many ways since it's independence. And both still are important partner of BD in different ways. We can/should use China to minimize India's influence. We should use USA to appeal to west and for economic backing and in political issues like Rohingya issue. Choosing one and being unfriendly with the other is not an option here. That being said we must not allow a US naval base in our waters. Other than that cooperation are always welcomed.

100% agree that BD should never allow any foreign base in BD.

 

[bluesky]

BD is or eventually will be strong enough to stay non-aligned BD. I would hate to see BD being a b!tch to USA or China. It is not in BD's interest either. USA and China both has helped BD in many ways since it's independence.

Not the USA, I am talking here about the Chinese money being spent in BD on a few prestige projects. Many of these projects will be done with Chinese loan worth maybe $20 billion at 2.5% interest per year payable in, say, 20 years.

In such a case, the interest payment itself will be $500 million and the principal $1,000 million to be paid every year. So, the total payment is $1.5 billion every year. I think it will be quite difficult for BD to keep on paying all these money every year when the country already has trade deficits. There are many other project loans, too, such as for the Rooppur nuclear power station. I wonder, what mechanism the GoB is thinking about to return all this money.

 

[Mage]

Not the USA, I am talking here about the Chinese money being spent in BD on a few prestige projects. Many of these projects will be done with Chinese loan worth maybe $20 billion at 2.5% interest per year payable in, say, 20 years.

In such a case, the interest payment itself will be $500 million and the principal $1,000 million to be paid every year. So, the total payment is $1.5 billion every year. I think it will be quite difficult for BD to keep on paying all these money every year when the country already has trade deficits. There are many other project loans, too, such as for the Rooppur nuclear power station. I wonder, what mechanism the GoB is thinking about to return all this money.

Interest rate is lower than inflation. And I don't think we're in a position that needs to worry about swelling foreign loans. It should be a concern, no doubt. But there is no need to worry yet. BD's GDP to loan ratio is rather low compared to other country. BD can get loan easily because it's total foreign loan is not much compared to GDP. We also don't take loans from IMF anymore and take very little from WB. As economy is growing, paying back loans should not be that much of a problem. Although we should watch out so that it doesn't increase way too much like it happened with Sri Lanka or Pakistan. If it gets bad then I guess we will have to lease our strategic places to them for 100 years lol.

 

[bluesky]

Interest rate is lower than inflation. And I don't think we're in a position that needs to worry about swelling foreign loans. It should be a concern, no doubt. But there is no need to worry yet. BD's GDP to loan ratio is rather low compared to other country. BD can get loan easily because it's total foreign loan is not much compared to GDP. We also don't take loans from IMF anymore and take very little from WB. As economy is growing, paying back loans should not be that much of a problem. Although we should watch out so that it doesn't increase way too much like it happened with Sri Lanka or Pakistan. If it gets bad then I guess we will have to lease our strategic places to them for 100 years lol.

I can cite the name of a few countries that went bankrupt because they were unable to make payment of the foreign loans. Inflation is a domestic matter. The rate of a currency of a country is also irrelevant when paying back the foreign loans in the dollar.

When a loan secured for investment in the industrial production facilities, it pays dividend, because the country's production and export are up. But, it is not happening in BD. It is borrowing money in dollar to finance construction projects. So, the payment situation is becoming gradually difficult.

Domestic loans by the govt from the Banks or through selling bonds may have some relevance to the GDP, but not the foreign loan because the latter one must be paid back in the dollar. So, the construction projects should be done with local engineers, technicians, and materials as much as possible. Projects like Padma Bridge or Karnaphuli tunnel are different because there is no local company that can accomplish these.

 

[Michael Corleone]

Elaborate please...

can't let them use our country to mount their mmilitary operations... that's for sure....
look at pakistan/

 

[UKBengali]

I can cite the name of a few countries that went bankrupt because they were unable to make payment of the foreign loans. Inflation is a domestic matter. The rate of a currency of a country is also irrelevant when paying back the foreign loans in the dollar.

When a loan secured for investment in the industrial production facilities pays divident, because the country's production is up and also its export in that case. But, it is not happening in BD. It is borrowing money in dollar to finance construction projects. So, the payment situation becomes gradually difficult.

Domestic loans by the govt from the Banks or through selling bonds may have some relevance to the GDP, but not the foreign loan because the latter one must be paid back in the dollar. So, the construction projects should be done with local engineers, technicians, and materials as much as possible. Projects like Padma Bridge or Karnaphuli tunnel are different because there is no local company that can accomplish these.

Are you aware that these infrastructure projects will allow industry to expand and thereby bringing in more dollars to finance the debt payments?