Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to China on June 22-26 saw the two sides sign 17 bilateral instruments. The two governments elevated “their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to jointly build a China-Bangladesh community with a shared future,” agreed to explore a 2+2 dialogue mechanism involving diplomacy and defense, and announced plans to implement a Bangladesh-China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Two projects, in particular — the Mongla Port Facilities Modernization and Expansion Project and the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP) — announced during Rahman’s visit have India worried as China’s involvement in these projects has implications for India’s national security.
Mongla Port, Bangladesh’s second-largest and second-busiest seaport after Chattogram, is located on the east bank of the Pasur River, 71 nautical miles upstream from the Bay of Bengal. The project here involves developing a special economic zone (SEZ) on a 110-acre plot of land adjacent to the port. China’s state-owned Civil Engineering Construction Corporation will develop the SEZ and has proposed an investment of $650 million in manufacturing industries, warehouses and storage facilities at the SEZ.
