Bangladesh's Shift Towards China and Pakistan: New Challenges for India
Deccan ChronicleNEW DELHI: The eventual formation of a pro-Pakistan and pro-China government comprising the anti-India Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami in Dhaka appears to be a foregone conclusion and will be the latest in a series of challenges to confront New Delhi in the neighbourhood. In an attempt to keep pace with the enormously superior Chinese financial muscle, New Delhi, especially in the past decade of the Modi government's tenures, has been focussing on boosting development assistance to its neighbours like Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. China dramatically increased its influence in India's southern maritime neighbour Sri Lanka about 15 to 16 years ago, in the final stages of the insurgency there when the Sri Lankan Army was engaged in a door-or-die battle against the rebel LTTE. Beholden to Beijing, the Rajapaksa brothers contributed hugely to the expansion of Chinese influence in the island nation in the form of huge infrastructure projects that led to accumulating debt for Sri Lanka, while Beijing secured a 99-year lease for the Hambantota port there that sent alarm bells ringing in New Delhi. However, Beijing remains one of the largest creditors to a debt-ridden Sri Lanka and securing Chinese cooperation remains a vital part of Sri Lanka's attempts at debt restructuring.