Nishtha Badgamia
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Bangladesh for a two-day visit and met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Photograph:(Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Bangladesh after attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi, in a bid to “consolidate” the country’s Asia-Pacific strategy and counter the “new imperialism” where Chinese influence is increasingly being extended. The move is also being seen in Macron’s new offensive in Asia where he is pitching Paris as a useful alternative to bigger powers.
Macron’s visit to Dhaka
The French president landed in the Bangladesh capital city of Dhaka, for a two-day stopover as a part of the country’s new reported strategy to target mid-sized countries in a region where countries such as China, Russia and the United States are competing for influence.
“Bangladesh is progressively retrieving its place on the world stage,” said the French president as he arrived in Dhaka on Sunday night (Sep 10) after wrapping up meetings at the G20 Summit.
He also praised Bangladesh’s “tremendous success,” as a rapidly growing economy with the world’s eighth most populous nation of over 170 million people.
“Based on democratic principles and the rule of law, in a region facing new imperialism, we want to propose a third way – with no intention to bully our partners or to lead them to an unsustainable scheme,” Macron told Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He added, “All our strategy is focused on strengthening the independence and the strategic autonomy of our friends to give them the ‘freedom of sovereignty’.”
During his trip, Macron also visited a memorial for Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, before returning to Paris.
The two leaders also discussed a “commitment” from the country’s Biman airline to purchase 10 A350s from European aircraft maker Airbus. The contract which has been called “an important point” by Macron is worth as much as $3.2 billion.
How has Bangladesh reacted to Macron’s pitch?
The Bangladeshi PM said that the French leader’s “push for strategic autonomy aligns with our own foreign policy” and is “a breath of fresh air in international politics” during a dinner to welcome him.
This comes as Bangladesh has recently witnessed massive protests calling for Hasina to step down as the incumbent PM’s Awami League has ruled the country since 2009 and has been accused of human rights abuses, corruption and creeping authoritarianism.
Several countries in the West have also expressed concern about the political climate in Bangladesh ahead of the general elections next year.
The French president’s visit also follows the one by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who visited Bangladesh ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh which is a $13 billion project.
Macron has made several high-level trips this year to Asian nations such as Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka five years after launching France’s Indo-Pacific strategy, the first European country to do so.
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