Bangladesh is getting closer to China by overcoming India\`s fascination\`

Sylhet_ A city in north-eastern Bangladesh_ is some 50km from the border with India. But when the government awarded a $250m contract in April to build a new airport terminal in the city_ the Indian bidder lost out to a Chinese firm_ the Beijing Urban Construction Group. In June China granted duty-free access to 97% of Bangladesh s exports. And this month Bangladesh_ seemingly despairing of a decade-long negotiation with India on a water-sharing pact for the Teesta river_ asked China to finance a $1bn water-management project instead. in 1971 its army intervened on the side of separatists battling the Pakistani army in what was then East Pakistan. Ever since_ ties between the two countries have been close. But many Bangladeshis have come to see India as a patronising and presumptuous ally. Cue a Chinese charm offensive. China has built seven  friendship bridges in Bangladesh in recent years. In 2018 it supplanted India as the country s biggest source of foreign investment. It is also Bangladesh s biggest trading partner. On a state visit in 2016 Xi Jinping_ China s president_ promised to spend more than $20bn on 27 infrastructure projects.  Chinese businesses are all over infrastructure development_ power and telecoms_ says Zahid Hussain_ a former lead economist with the World Bank in Bangladesh. As well as deep pockets_ China has fewer scruples than most Western benefactors_ notes Ali Riaz of Illinois State University. In 2013 Bangladesh rejected a $1.2bn loan from the World Bank to finance a bridge spanning the Padma river_ after the bank started investigating accusations of corruption. China stepped in. The number of Bangladeshis studying in China has grown exponentially in the past few years. Almost as soon as covid-19 arrived in Bangladesh_ so did a team of Chinese doctors sent to help fight the epidemic. The Chinese government also slower to grant duty-free access to Bangladeshi goods. Yet China is the target of much less criticism in the Bangladeshi media. Bangladesh s government is a little more circumspect. It is wary of becoming too indebted to China_ and is careful not to snub India. Narendra Modi_ India s prime minister_ had been due to visit in March_ until the coronavirus scuppered his trip. Having such a huge and powerful neighbour nonetheless rankles. -Source: The Economist