Bangladesh News and Discussion

[A_Gupta]

Prothomalo reports:

https://en.prothomalo.com/business/local/6jzihwvjdc

Clause 6 of the trade agreement, in Paragraph 3 of the “commercial understanding” section, states that Bangladesh will take steps to purchase US agricultural products to ensure food security. These include wheat (at least 700,000 tonnes annually for five years), soybeans and soybean products (at least $1.25 billion or 2.6 million tonnes per year), and cotton. Altogether, the estimated annual value of agricultural imports will be about $3.5 billion.

Bangladesh imports roughly $15 billion worth of agricultural products annually. Due to distance and higher transport costs, imports from the US had historically been relatively limited.

After the imposition of recirocal tariffs, however, various initiatives led to an increase in imports. Even so, in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the figure has not yet crossed $1 billion.

If Bangladesh abides by this agreement, it means less imports from India, Brazil, Russia.

[A_Gupta]

The Dhaka Tribune reports:

US seeks closer defence, trade ties with next Bangladesh govt
Ambassador Brent T Christensen told Reuters that Washington is closely watching growing Chinese influence in the region
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh ... -with-next

Ambassador Brent T Christensen told Reuters that Washington is closely watching growing Chinese influence in the region and intends to engage the incoming Bangladeshi administration on the risks associated with certain forms of security cooperation with Beijing.

“The United States is concerned about growing Chinese influence in South Asia and is committed to working closely with the Bangladeshi government to clearly communicate the risks of certain types of engagement with China,” Christensen said in the interview, according to Reuters.

He added that the United States can provide “a range of options” to help Bangladesh meet its military needs, including US-made systems and equipment from allied partners, offering what he described as alternatives to Chinese hardware.
...
...
Christensen also noted that Washington would like to see improved relations between Bangladesh and India, describing such ties as important for regional stability.

The US has Bangladesh in an economic stranglehold, and so, Bangladesh will be weaned off China. Not sure whether US in Bangladesh or China in Bangladesh is worse for India.

I wonder if there were some geopolitical agreements that were arrived at in conjunction with the Indo-US trade deal.

[chetak]

The Dhaka Tribune reports:

US seeks closer defence, trade ties with next Bangladesh govt
Ambassador Brent T Christensen told Reuters that Washington is closely watching growing Chinese influence in the region
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh ... -with-next

Ambassador Brent T Christensen told Reuters that Washington is closely watching growing Chinese influence in the region and intends to engage the incoming Bangladeshi administration on the risks associated with certain forms of security cooperation with Beijing.

“The United States is concerned about growing Chinese influence in South Asia and is committed to working closely with the Bangladeshi government to clearly communicate the risks of certain types of engagement with China,” Christensen said in the interview, according to Reuters.

He added that the United States can provide “a range of options” to help Bangladesh meet its military needs, including US-made systems and equipment from allied partners, offering what he described as alternatives to Chinese hardware.
...
...
Christensen also noted that Washington would like to see improved relations between Bangladesh and India, describing such ties as important for regional stability.

The US has Bangladesh in an economic stranglehold, and so, Bangladesh will be weaned off China. Not sure whether US in Bangladesh or China in Bangladesh is worse for India.

I wonder if there were some geopolitical agreements that were arrived at in conjunction with the Indo-US trade deal.

A_Gupta ji,

All commercial agreements with private US companies are securely protected by strong NDAs and are legally binding

All costing is way, way above market price and details have not been made public. youanus must have made tens of million$, because quantities to be purchased have been committed on a long term basis

The amrikis have learned well from the opaque practices of the cheen, and all agreements were signed before the elections

the beedis are f(ked and far from home. The figures being bandied about are in the range of 18 -20 billion$ per year

[uddu]

U.S.A Jihadis delivering U.S.A style Democracy.
https://x.com/i/status/2021777288682254501
@MeghUpdates
Counting of Ballot paper votes started in Bangladesh yesterday night as per viral FB claim thanking Yunus, ahead of Elections & voting today

[A_Gupta]

As of 10:00 PM IST, BNP is leading in 58 seats, Jamaat in 20.

[uddu]

As of 10:00 PM IST, BNP is leading in 58 seats, Jamaat in 20.

Akhand Bharat is the one and only solution. Jihadi's should be send to their daddy's home America.

[Amber G.]

India was invited to send observers for the Bangladesh election. But we have not sent any to Bangladesh for the elections,” says India even as Pakistan, China send observers

[Amber G.]

Election Result Bangladesh : BNP wins parliamentary elections, says local TV; Tarique Rahman to become PM?
Bangladesh Polls Result 2026 LIVE: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 151 seats in the 300-seat Jatiya Sangsad, giving it a simple majority, according to Ekattor TV.

[A_Gupta]

While the Dhaka Tribune says the same as above, along with the Jamaat at 43 seats, it also shows the Jamaat with 55 seats on its elections results page.

[A_Gupta]

Al Jazeera reports: “ The Bangladesh Election Commission reports nationwide voter turnout of nearly 60 percent in the 13th parliamentary election, marking an increase from the 41.8 percent recorded in the controversial 2024 polls.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog ... -under-way

[A_Gupta]

The Daily Star

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/c ... ky-4104086

Bangladesh-US trade agreement in focus
Unequal, rushed and risky

I do not understand why our interim government rushed to sign this agreement just days before the election,” he said. “This should have been left to the newly elected government… Waiting one or two months would not have created major problems.”
..

He said an agreement of this magnitude should have gone through parliamentary scrutiny and wider consultation with business leaders and trade experts. “Stakeholders, including exporters and experts, were not properly consulted,” he said, calling the process “deeply concerning”.
…

One of Raihan’s strongest criticisms concerns the imbalance of obligations between the two countries.

In the 32-page document, “Bangladesh shall” appears 158 times, while “the United States shall” appears only nine times, he said. “This shows that most obligations fall on Bangladesh.”

[A_Gupta]

If there is any justice for BD, Yunus should be tried and hanged for treasonous sell-out of BD (aside from his unleashing jihadi forces).

[A_Gupta]

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/c ... st-4104091
A deal done in the dark – almost

CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun says pre-deal consultations with economists were largely formalities

Though framed as a trade deal, Fahmida said the agreement carries clear geopolitical overtones. Certain clauses limit Bangladesh’s engagement with “non-market countries,” widely interpreted to include China and Russia.

“There are clauses binding Bangladesh not to engage in certain dealings with so-called ‘non-market countries’,” Fahmida said. “This clearly introduces a geopolitical and security dimension.”

[A_Gupta]

As of 09:15 IST, the BNP has 181 seats; if it wins 19 of the 50 yet to be called, it will have a two-thirds majority of the general seats. 50 seats are reserved for women - need to see how those seats are allocated. Two-thirds majority is needed for constitutional amendments in the unicameral Bangladesh parliament.

Added - the reserved seats are allocated in proportion to the general seats. Jamaat will get 10-12 women’s seats - I wonder whom they will nominate.

[chetak]

As of 09:15 IST, the BNP has 181 seats; if it wins 19 of the 50 yet to be called, it will have a two-thirds majority of the general seats. 50 seats are reserved for women - need to see how those seats are allocated. Two-thirds majority is needed for constitutional amendments in the unicameral Bangladesh parliament.

Added - the reserved seats are allocated in proportion to the general seats. Jamaat will get 10-12 women’s seats - I wonder whom they will nominate.

A_Gupta ji,


Hope that the GoI does not go overboard in welcoming and facilitating these gaddars and mofos

Whoever they are and whichever foul party they represent, their virulent anti India and anti Hindu out look has always been more than pernicious and the incontrovertible evidence has piled up over tens of decades

they have unmistakably and wantonly showed their true colors during the youanus rule. Burning and murdering Hindus cannot be accepted as mere social aberrations, especially when there is a nefariously broad based consensus, coupled with a brutally cultural intent to wipe out the minority

India would be extremely foolish to disregard such overwhelming evidence and inanely mouth the same the self defeating and repetitive crap about "cannot change neighbors" and some utter BS about "people to people" contacts

[A_Gupta]

[A_Gupta]

If BNP sticks with the US deal signed by Yunus, Bangladesh goes down the tubes very fast. Yunus sold out BD.
BNP could try to reopen the negotiations and annoy Trump.

Will BNP risk both Trump and Modi displeasure and go with the China/Pakistan axis? With a huge majority, BNP PM can pretty much decide what to do without coalition politics.

[chetak]

If BNP sticks with the US deal signed by Yunus, Bangladesh goes down the tubes very fast. Yunus sold out BD.
BNP could try to reopen the negotiations and annoy Trump.

Will BNP risk both Trump and Modi displeasure and go with the China/Pakistan axis? With a huge majority, BNP PM can pretty much decide what to do without coalition politics.

A_Gupta ji,


The long standing beedi hatred for India and the Indians is malignant. The BNP and its kattar jihadi pals have always been at the forefront of such manipulations.

But as regards the amrikis, there is the sheer terror of tariffs and a great fear of another regime change narrative that can very quickly be manufactured by the culinary institute, to end any and all political aspirations by bringing in another "chief advisor"

we should play the role of disinterested bystanders and watch from a safe distance.

There is already a great resentment against Modi ji's govt for the deportations, as well as, the river waters that will not as generously forthcoming as before........

[A_Gupta]

BNP has secured a two-thirds majority (208 seats with 15 more seats to go, out of 299 general seats).
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/natio ... ty-4105136


From my perspective, this is the least bad outcome. With BD, there are no good outcomes, only bad and worse. The election itself is suspect, because they banned the whole of the Awami party, not merely its senior leadership; but an elected government is less bad than M. Yunus.

This is the least bad outcome because:

1. BNP rather than Jamaal.

2. Better than two-thirds majority, so the need to stabilize the government by creating a unity by hostility to perceived enemies, internal and external is at its minimum.

3. Total accountability - whatever happens now is BNP's responsibility, it cannot point fingers to other actors in Bangladesh.

[ricky_v]

If there is any justice for BD, Yunus should be tried and hanged for treasonous sell-out of BD (aside from his unleashing jihadi forces).

and who would do the trying and hanging at the moment?? yunus is the will of the people of bangladesh, whatever he has executed has the strength of the bd people behind it even though he was not mandated in, in toto, then, the deal has been made by the people of bd

now this is bd we are talking about, so there is no concept of internal accountability but only external accountability also colloquially known as scapegoat, which yunus will become once the future bd hem and haw and aver that they were duped and that yunus is to be blamed... in the current moment, as it stands, yunus has undertaken the will of the bd society unless sometime in the future he will be found to have not undertaken the will of the bd society for accountability as understood in the bd society is a mutable concept and always in a state of flux

its a curious set of events for the bd people, now it is common knowledge that the world leaders gather every month in secret to discuss the various ways by which bangladesh can be kept down, for they know that an unfettered bangladesh can throw open the shackles of humanity and usher in the new era of rice, fish and robindrogeet, india in particular is jealous because even when bd is under so much pressure and conspiracy, it is the money of the bd people that is propping up the indian economy... point being intrigues and conspiracy is in the vein of the average bd and from therein has been birthed yunus and friends, coupled with a convenient lack of accountability and bd is a world power.... if only there were no conspiracies against them

if i may be a bit bold to suggest, what you apply to the bd society is a top-down approach, the rule of law, democracy, fairness and openness towards polity as what would be expected from a run-off-the-mill democracy. But these concepts are not of the bd people, which is a point that many people take for granted, these are alien concepts grafted onto the bd society and like all external grafts can be molded in as many ways as to gain a favourable outcome for the bd society or removed all together. If you would analyse the bd society from the bottoms-up you would see that what you are touting is extremely far from the bd mindset

its another variation of "us is meddling in bd polity and bd are harmless moonlight addled fauns who cannot differentiate between left and right" that is bandied about the north east; you look at the will of bd society and it becomes clear what they want.. but we so want to be considered as a player on the big stage and the big game that we self inflate our egos to state that but of course, it is the us meddling in india's backyard for we are so very important, it can never be the irrelevant bd themselves

[A_Gupta]

and who would do the trying and hanging at the moment?? yunus is the will of the people of bangladesh, whatever he has executed has the strength of the bd people behind it even though he was not mandated in, in toto, then, the deal has been made by the people of bd

I don't agree. It is the social media "color revolution" type of thing + foreign interference, and not traceable to "the will of the people of Bangladesh".

The anti-Hasina coup, the Yunus caretaker government are as much the will of the people as the GenZ revolt in Nepal. Or the coup in Iran in 1953.

The just concluding election had 60% turn out which is respectable, didn't have an extraordinary amount of chicanery; and would be close to the will of the people had the Awami Party been allowed to participate. Nevertheless, this is closer to the will of the people than what impressions X/Twitter gives, and what M. Yunus gave.

This is not to claim that the will of the BD people is something that India will find acceptable or that will be civilized. This is merely to point out that (vocality + political control) != (will of the people). I think the election results will show that the "student" leaders that overthrew Sheikh Hasina were pretty much reduced to political irrelevance by the vote. Which would not be the case if they were really heroes of the people who expressed the will of the people.

One can hope that having a better than two-third majority and facing a deal with the US that kill the BD economy in the long run that Yunus signed, the BNP will take issue with Yunus eventually. Of course, they won't hang him; perhaps him being persona non grata is the best one can hope for. IMO, they won't realize just how bad their deal with the US is, for a while.

Added - I may be mistaken, but as far as I can ascertain, the student leaders who joined the BNP avoided the anti-India and the greater Bangladesh rhetoric that was favored by the dear departed Osman Hadi; the student leaders who took Hadi's line were allied with the Jamaat; and they won of the order of 3-4 seats.

Also added - even opinion polls do not capture the will of the people. Only elections do.

Also added - please do not take it that I am saying something good has happened. Given what was there, this is among the least bad outcomes.

Also added - last time BNP was in power it was with Jamaat. This time it is without. They cannot say "we are like this only, it is the Jamaat part that is nasty".

[ricky_v]

^ you may be right and I wrong, however, as i may have mouthed off elsewhere, i am a big believer in the notion that whatever comes before determines what comes after

the bd society to my mind is struck in what i term as an incomplete revolution, in this sordid play, the coloniser is india and the bd society can never return to normalcy, if there was ever such a halcyon term that they experienced, until the bugbear of india is vanquished

to that end, the society will keep on erupting and new "student" leaders popping up if the society ever feels a general slacking in the prosecution / persecution of india and those deemed indians... which is what i mean as the will of the people

they had their elections and 3 cheers to them on that front, their uk returned pm may prove a good admin, to my viewpoint, he is likely to end as fellow uk returnee, aung sung suu kyi and a takeover of the armed forces ala myanmmar, as countries struck in incomplete revolutions usually do

[chetak]

If BNP sticks with the US deal signed by Yunus, Bangladesh goes down the tubes very fast. Yunus sold out BD.
BNP could try to reopen the negotiations and annoy Trump.

Will BNP risk both Trump and Modi displeasure and go with the China/Pakistan axis? With a huge majority, BNP PM can pretty much decide what to do without coalition politics.

A_Gupta ji,

what do you think that trump will do to the beedis if they break any signed agreements with the amrikis

why should India stick her neck out and incur further displeasure from the amrikis

venezuela was a mere trailer. The more recalcitrant a country that does not know its aukat, the heavier trump will descend on it.

these freeloading jihadi swine are all set to once again leech onto India's financial, agricultural and energy nipples and affix their greedy buccal orifices to her abundant and benevolent teats

like any other jihadi, they just don't like to pay bills from India

[A_Gupta]

what do you think that trump will do to the beedis if they break any signed agreements with the amrikis

why should India stick her neck out and incur further displeasure from the amrikis

venezuela was a mere trailer. The more recalcitrant a country that does not know its aukat, the heavier trump will descend on it.

these freeloading jihadi swine are all set to once again leech onto India's financial, agricultural and energy nipples and affix their greedy buccal orifices to her abundant and benevolent teats

like any other jihadi, they just don't like to pay bills from India

@chetak ji -

1. BD cannot break their agreement with America, unless China comes in with billions of dollars-equivalent to rescue them, which IMO, China cannot afford.

2. The so-called "trade deal" with the US restricts BD relations with China and Russia.

3. The so-called "trade deal" with the US also r*pes BD just like the East India Company r*ped Bengal centuries ago.

4. The so-called "trade deal" was negotiated under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, so BD is just becoming aware of what is in it. It has just appeared in their newspapers, my own knowledge of it is from there; it is a bad deal for BD.

5. When BNP realizes the mess Yunus has handed them, they will be angry.

6. Yunus, the Student Movement, the Jamaat, and even the BNP have done a lot to make India no longer friendly, but at best purely transactional. PM Modi may not exploit BD like Trump has in the so-called "trade deal", but PM Modi will not give them anything that they do not pay for - at least, I hope he will not.

7. However, IMO, India is BD's only lifeline. If they realize this, they will do their best to try to regain some trust from India, but it will take years. If they don't realize it, they will go downhill like Pakistan.

8. India also needs to make sure that SAFTA or other does not become a conduit for the US to dump goods via BD into India.

To shortcut the. years-long trust process - What BD may have to do is to hang everyone who killed a Hindu; pay Hindu families recompense like they did to Osman Hadi's family, throw jihadis that were let out of jail by Yunus back into jail, write a constitutional amendment that they are a secular country, and so on. Probably beyond their powers and beyond their comprehension.

BNP's Tarique Rehman is known for being as corrupt as the Zardaris in Pakistan, and I doubt years abroad would make him put country first and his own pocket last.

Therefore, interesting times ahead.