Whenever the Indian media starts writing about the rapid development of Bangladesh, my first impulse is to check the financial newspapers t...
Whenever the Indian media starts writing about the rapid development of Bangladesh, my first impulse is to check the financial newspapers to see if there have been any new deals or treaties. And that never fails: there’s rarely any real basis for the buzz.
For instance, few months ago, when Indian newspapers began to talk up the Bangladesh Story, it turned out that it was just hype about an Indian firm haggling with a French firm about constructing a new refinery in Bangladesh.
So at the end of July, when the Indian media began to talk about the collapse of relations between India and Bangladesh, I was curious about what storm had been brewed in the teacup. It turned out that the Indian construction company Larsen and Turbo had lost a bid to the Beijing Urban Construction Group for the renovation of Sylhet Airport.
Many security consultants will tell you that the government of Bangladesh is angry about the Ram temple being constructed in Ayodhya on the site of the demolished Babri masjid or India’s plan to draw up a National Register of Citizens. The truth is that Sheikh Hasina’s government isn’t overly concerned about these issues. Its primary focus is to maintain the Indian support necessary to keep this...
