Beyond Mongla port, the China-proposed economic corridor encompassing Bangladesh-Myanmar-China holds immense strategic importance. It is essentially a re-branded iteration of the previous BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) initiative. This corridor is important for establishing connectivity and expanding future trade between Bangladesh, China and Myanmar.
Concurrently, the regional prominence of Chittagong Port, Bay Terminal, APM Terminals and Matarbari Deep Sea Port as regional hubs will increase manifold. In the interest of the future socio-economic progress of Bangladesh, the government should seriously consider this proposal. This corridor will integrate Bangladesh with ASEAN more effectively. It is noteworthy that China has also invited India to join this economic corridor. This can be called a new version of the BCIM initiative.
In conclusion, as a sovereign state it is entirely natural and desirable for Bangladesh to pursue an independent foreign and defense policy. However, this policy is not intended to harm any country. Rather, our aim is to maintain cordial relations with all countries, especially our neighbours. It is the expectation of the citizens of the country that the present government will continue to take strongly independent strategic decisions in the national interest of Bangladesh.
* M Sakhawat Hussain is a former advisor to the interim government
*The views expressed are the author’s own