How is the Saint-Martin Island important for the United States?
Amid huge protests, Sheikh Hasina's son debunks claims of her accusing the United States of seeking the St. Martin Island for a military base. How important is the Saint Martin Island, and what is its significance with respect to the United States? Here we throw light on all these facts and more.
The location and surface area of the St. Martin Island
The St. Martin Island is situated in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. It is a tiny coral island which is over nine kilometers south of Cox's Bazar-Teknaf, the tip of the southernmost peninsula of Bangladesh. The St. Martin stands as the only coral island of Bangladesh.
As far as the surface area of the island is concerned, the St. Martin island holds a surface area of only three square kilometers. At present, there are over 3,700 people residing on the island. These residents engage in activities such as coconut farming, fishing, seaweed harvesting, and rice cultivation. A lot of these grown materials are exported to Myanmar from the island.
Recently, the island came into news headlines for the reason that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party allegedly planned to sell the island to the United States to create a military base in exchange for aid in winning the elections.
It is important to note, however, that claims like these were later rejected by the US State Department. It further threw light on its commitment to respecting the sovereignty of Bangladesh. It further encouraged democracy by means of free and fair elections.
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Recently, Sajeeb Wazeb Joy, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son stated that his mother did not make any remarks or statements prior to going to Dhaka on August 5 amid great protests. The comments after the reports that the former Prime Minister was not given with the opportunity to address the country by the army signify that she allegedly accused the United States of playing a role in the ouster.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Wazed said, "The recent resignation statement attributed to my mother published in a newspaper is completely false and fabricated. I have just confirmed with her that she did not make any statement either before or since leaving Dhaka."
Before this reports suggested that Hasina expressed that had she handed over the St. Martin's island to the United States, her government would have sustained. She mentioned this in the excerpts of her speech that went undelivered. - Jagran
Now, what is gaining headlines is the fact that why would the former Prime Minister talk about the sovereignty issue of the St. Martin island amid the protests against her? Additionally, the situation also makes the whole world wonder as to what is the significance of the island with respect to the United States?
(Manas Paul in TripuraNet.com)
While the USA lost the Gulf countries as far as its trade and economic interests are concerned, the South East Asia now remains to be the most fertile ground and desirable destination. And none really likes to have a competitor in a high yielding business field. With Bangladesh coming under its influence Washington is now in a position to counter the rise of two Asian giants –India and certainly China in South East Asia and in extension ASEAN countries.
It is widely believed that the USA played the key role behind this uprising in Bangladesh to unsettle Sheikh Hasina. That Sheikh Hasina was having a frosty relation with the USA was known for long as Washington was not hiding its displeasure at her being elected time and again and having a tilt toward India, and to some extent to China too.
But revelation that the USA was determined and going to do something that it always did, came from neither New Delhi nor Beijing. It was actually a Russian diplomat who first in no uncertain terms informed the world about the USA’s design.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova way back on November 23, 2023 cautioned openly in a media interaction that the USA was trying to foment trouble in Bangladesh a la Arab Spring.
She said, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas was openly interfering in Bangladesh's internal affairs.
"At the end of October, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas met a member of the local opposition to discuss plans for organising anti-government rallies. Such actions amount to nothing less than gross interference in internal affairs," said Maria Zakharova .
"We have repeatedly highlighted the attempts by the US and its allies to influence the internal political processes in Bangladesh under the guise of ensuring that the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country are 'transparent and inclusive'," Zakharova said.
During the students’ protest also the USA was openly critical of Hasina government and it tried to garner support for the protesters. It was alleged that media outlets, political leaders, NGO leaders, religious elders, academics, intellectuals et al were selectively used with various means.
Md Yunus was also heard giving statements and his coinage of words always reflected what the USA’s sentiments.
The USA used the Bangladesh army in 1975 against Sheikh Mujibar Rahaman, this time also it is alleged that Washington used a section of the army to oust Sheikh Hasina. Both happened in the month August only. In 1975 it was CIA Dhaka station chief Philip Cherry ( and of course Henry Kissinger), this time it was Peter Haas and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu.
This time the USA was all praise for the Bangladesh army- for its ‘restraint and not going for crackdown on the protesters’ and its statements were loud and clear.
While this praise sounds innocuous and well meaning, the eye brows were raised when it was found that Bangladesh army was seen vandalizing Sheikh Mujibar Rahaman’s statue- a stark reminder of 1975 coup-, or openly helping –or remaining silent spectator as the street thugs carried out looting and ransacking Ganavaban, government properties or attacking police stations.
The USA did not utter a single word against such un-military behaviour.
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