China-Bangladesh Geopolitical Relations: A Study of Some Geostrategic and Geoeconomic Issues in the Context of the Bay of Bengal
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Abstract
Geopolitically, the Bay of Bengal is very important because it is connected with Andaman Sea and Malacca Straits. Moreover, the Bay of Bengal has direct links with South Asia and South East Asia including the Indian Ocean. Particularly, both China and India are very interested in the Bay of Bengal for mineral resources. Through the Bay of Bengal, China wants a direct connectivity between China and Indian Ocean through either South East Bangladesh or Rakhine state of Myanmar. This study has dealt with the importance of the Bay of Bengal in the light of China’s geopolitical desire, trade and investment, oil and gas, and regional connectivity. Many geopolitical issues of China and Bangladesh have been discussed in this study. The main objective of this study is to focus on strengthening the relationship between China and Bangladesh, so that these two neighboring countries can be beneficiaries through trade and investment, regional connectivity, expanding the exports and imports. And these two friendly countries can be also beneficiaries through constructing the deep seaports along the Eastern Coastal Zone of Bangladesh, particularly Southeast Cox’s Bazar. The findings of this study are that, the relationship Between China and Bangladesh in the light of the geopolitics and geo-economic issues is, of course, pivotal for both countries for trade and investment, and for economic cooperation and development. Methodologically it is a qualitative study, which is based on both primary and secondary data.
Keywords: China, Bangladesh, Geopolitical Relations, Bay of Bengal
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