Bangladesh-China talks underway for Tarique Rahman’s first foreign visit

Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is in talks with Beijing to visit China in the coming weeks. According to a report in Protom HelloBeijing is delighted to host Mr. Rahman on his first overseas trip in the last week of June.

Sources say the visit schedule is yet to be finalised, but plans are afoot to kick off the multi-day visit with high-level meetings between Prime Minister Rahman and senior Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

The meeting regarding the visit, which will be Mr. Rahman’s first foreign tour since he took office on February 17, was announced last week by Foreign Affairs Advisor Humayun Kobir, who emphasized the importance of China as a “development partner” and said that the visit would definitely take place.

Earlier, during a meeting at a hotel in Dhaka on May 8, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen stated that the visit was planned, but did not mention a schedule at that time. Besides the modernization of the Mongolian port, it could increase Bangladesh’s need for infrastructure development, relocation of Chinese industries to Bangladesh, establishment of Chinese economic zones in Bangladesh and the need for a Teesta Master Plan, the newspaper reported. Improving aviation connectivity is also expected to be discussed.

Mr. Rahman, who will complete his first hundred days in office next week, is in talks with his team about his first foreign visit since coming to power in February. Their first destination was expected to be India, China or Saudi Arabia. But the crisis in the Gulf has reduced the possibility of travel to Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh’s relations with India have been strained in recent weeks over West Bengal and Assam’s rhetoric about illegal immigration.