The Muhammad Yunus regime has done lot many mistakes.
For China, Bangladesh is a vital partner in its Belt and Road Initiative and String of Pearls ambitions, offering a strategic foothold in India’s backyard.
Welcoming Chinese influence may put wind in Bangladesh’s economic sails, but it comes with the risk of transforming the nation into a battleground for the Sino-Indian rivalry. Bangladesh, in its hasty geopolitical gambit, may have just traded a delicate tightrope for treacherous quicksand.
Normalcy has vanished in Bangladesh and not without good reasons.
New Delhi is unable to do much since August 2024.
From getting the Awami League banned to the gutting of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Dhamnondi 32 to the opposing of women's rights reforms, it has been street power that has been seen working in Bangladesh of late.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remained unfazed by emerging developments, He emphasised the government's focus on the northeastern states. Speaking at the inaugural session of 'Rising North East Investor Summit' in New Delhi, PM Modi junked the notion that geography could be a deterrent for North East's growth.
This was a veiled attack on Yunus.
He positioned the region at the heart of India's Act East Policy, and said that "the NorthEast will become a strong bridge and gateway for Asean trade".
Reports say Yunus supporters are getting ready to fight on all fronts, including in the streets, to save the interim government, according to reports.
It was a massive public agitation that toppled the regime of Sheikh Hasina and forced her to flee Dhaka on August 5, 2024. Since then, most issues have been raised on the streets, not in Parliament, and the government has been giving in to the demands of protesters and Islamist mobs.
The Yunus-led interim government, the student-formed National Citizens Party (NCP) and the Islamists have realised the power of public protests. Even the BNP has been holding rallies in a show of renewed strength.
The interim government warned that if "obstacles — fuelled by defeated forces or foreign conspiracies—render the government's work impossible, it will take all facts to the public and make decisions in partnership with the people", according to a Dhaka Tribune report.
Yunus and the leadership of the July Agitation of 2024 found massive public support as it was expected that it would be a fresh start from the time of Hasina when corruption was rampant and enforced disappearances of political opponents were the norm of the day.
"If any actions obstruct the government's autonomy, reform efforts, judicial processes, free and fair elections, or normal functioning, and thereby make it impossible to carry out its mandated responsibilities, the government will take the necessary decisions in consultation with the people," according to a statement from the office of the Chief Adviser.
Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the interim government in Bangladesh, and his aides on Saturday warned of public-backed action if pressure was piled on them through "unreasonable demands".
The warning comes after calls for elections by December from the army chief and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
That means the regime is not keen to give up power by December. “The chief adviser is not stepping down. The chief adviser never said he will resign. The other advisers too will remain in their positions," Wahiduddin Mahmud, the planning adviser in the interim government, told journalists in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.
BNP and Jamait leaders believe Yunus is simply threatening the resignation card to earn public sympathy.
These two parties want Yunus to announce election and thereby deny opportunities to newly floated National Citizen Party (NCP) much elbow room to make a bid for power.
India also has decided to place restrictions on Bangladeshi products being exported to North-East India after several comments made by the interim regime including by Yunus that it can choke the prosperity of NE states by denying them access to the Bay of Bengal.
The move is expected to disrupt Bangladesh's garment industry, raising costs and limiting market access, while creating new opportunities for Indian manufacturers.
These have also added to unpopularisty of Yunus.
Big time investment:
Adani Group, Reliance Industries, and Vedanta
-- announced at the Summit that they plan to invest an additional Rs 30,000-Rs 50,000 crore (approximately $4 billion to $6 billion) each in northeast India.
Speaking at the event, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, said Reliance Industries has committed to investing Rs 45,000 crore more in the Northeast.
"Reliance has invested around Rs 30,000 crore in the region in the past 40 years," he said, adding,
"In the next five years, we will more than double our investments, with our target at Rs 75,000 crore".RIL's investments will cover telecom, retail, renewable energy, biofuel, healthcare, and sports infrastructure across all eight Northeastern states".
Natural resources major Vedanta announced a Rs 80,000 crore investment in the region, including Rs 50,000 crore in Assam that it had announced earlier this year.
These investments will be made in oil & gas, critical minerals, refining facilities, power, optical fibre, system integration, renewable energy, transmission sectors and data centres in six northeastern states.
The investment is expected to generate 100,000 jobs.
Gautam Adani-led Adani Group pledged a Rs 1 lakh crore investment commitment for Assam and the broader Northeast region over the next decade.
The group's investment will focus on green energy, power transmission, roads, digital infrastructure, logistics, and human capital development. The commitment doubles the Rs 50,000 crore investment announced by the Adani Group just three months ago at the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit.
No comments:
Post a Comment