Foreign policy & regional relations (India, Myanmar)
Bangladesh's foreign-policy doctrine and its bilateral relations with India and Myanmar—treaties, disputes, and the Rohingya crisis—for the BCS International Affairs paper.
Constitutional and Doctrinal Foundations
Bangladesh's foreign policy is anchored in Article 25 of the 1972 Constitution, which commits the state to respect for national sovereignty and equality, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect for international law and UN Charter principles. Article 25(1)(c) uniquely obliges the state to support oppressed peoples "fighting against imperialism, colonialism or racialism"—a Liberation-War-era imprint.
The operative slogan, coined by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his September 1974 UN General Assembly address (the first delivered in Bengali), is "Friendship to all, malice towards none" (Shabar shathe bondhutto, karo shathe boiritta noy). This non-aligned posture was institutionalised when Bangladesh joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1973, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1974, and the Commonwealth in 1972, securing UN membership in September 1974 after the Soviet veto was lifted following China's earlier 1972 block.
Strategic Drivers
Three structural realities shape Dhaka's external choices. First, geography: Bangladesh is nearly encircled by India (4,096 km border, the world's fifth-longest) and shares a 271 km frontier with Myanmar, making both neighbours unavoidable. Second, the Bay of Bengal, whose maritime resources and Indo-Pacific significance Bangladesh secured through favourable boundary judgments. Third, development diplomacy—remittances, the readymade-garment export economy, and climate vulnerability (Bangladesh is a leader of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and chaired it in 2011 and 2020).
Bangladesh practises a calibrated balancing among major powers: deepening economic ties with China (Belt and Road infrastructure, Padma Bridge rail link financing) while preserving its foundational relationship with India and courting Japan, the United States and the EU as export markets and donors. The 2023 adoption of an Indo-Pacific Outlook signalled an inclusive, non-confrontational stance avoiding explicit alignment.
The India Relationship: Treaties and Disputes
India is Bangladesh's most consequential partner, having sponsored the 1971 Liberation War. Landmark instruments a candidate must retain:
- 1972 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace (25-year term; lapsed 1997).
- 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (Mujib–Indira Accord), finally operationalised by India's 100th Constitutional Amendment, 2015, exchanging 162 enclaves.
- 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty at Farakka, a 30-year accord expiring in 2026—a live renegotiation issue.
- The 2014 ITLOS / PCA maritime arbitration that awarded Bangladesh roughly 19,467 sq km of the disputed Bay of Bengal zone.
Outstanding irritants include the unresolved Teesta River water-sharing dispute (blocked by West Bengal since 2011), border killings along the BSF-patrolled frontier, trade deficits, and connectivity through transit corridors. Following the political transition of August 2024, when Sheikh Hasina's government fell and an interim administration under Muhammad Yunus took office, Dhaka–Delhi relations entered a period of recalibration.