E-International Relations, 2022
What explains this almost selective bandwagoning behavior by the non-nuclear five (Bangladesh, Bh... more What explains this almost selective bandwagoning behavior by the non-nuclear five (Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) to jump into the Chinese ship? The “non-nuclear five” have traditionally been in the “sphere of influence” of India. While most of the countries by itself are not small by any means—for example, Nepal has a population of 30 million, Sri Lanka with 22 million, and Bangladesh with 165 million, India is the most dominant country in the region with approximately 75 per cent of the landmass and 80 percent of South Asia’s GDP. As a result, India has an upper-hand in its bilateral relations with these countries. There is an increasing need to go beyond the India-Pakistan focused South Asia policy of the US and more importantly—not just depend on India. For this, the US needs to prioritize bilateral or multilateral engagements with the non-nuclear five countries of the region by genuinely understanding their interests, views and concerns. One way to do that is to push for a grouping like the East African Community or the Caribbean Community. The SAARC has been a failure due to being a hostage to India and Pakistan’s bilateral issues—so why not push for a new grouping just for the Non-Nuclear Five?
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Op-eds by Rudabeh Shahid
passed by an overwhelming margin. Atlantic Council experts shared their answers below to the most important questions about these results.
While Dhaka remains silent on these issues, the denaturalisation and vilification of Bengali Muslims in India may encourage the mainstreaming of anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh, adversely affecting bilateral relations.