BANGLADESH’S EVOLVING BALANCING STRATEGY: FROM TWO-WAY TO THREE-WAY?
BANGLADESH’S EVOLVING BALANCING STRATEGY: FROM TWO-WAY TO THREE-WAY?

Summary/Abstract: Bangladesh has followed a balancing approach in its external relations historically. Over the last five decades, the balancing behaviour has undergone qualitative change due to Bangladesh’s evolving national interest and power dynamics. Bangladesh has been striking a balance between India and China for a while now. However, the situation has changed since the announcement of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the revival of QUAD and the inking AUKUS pact. To counter the growing Chinese presence, a US stake has become visible in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. As a result, Bangladesh is now directly balancing the interests of three superpowers, India, China, and the USA. Existing literature cannot explain this new balancing scenario. This paper aims to explain Bangladesh’s evolving balancing strategy. To do so, this paper will look at Bangladesh’s foreign policy from a historical perspective and focus on the latest development in the Indo-Pacific region. To overcome the limits of existing literature, this paper will attempt to develop a new balancing framework, Three-Way Balancing. This paper will also focus on how Bangladesh can maintain its tradition of neutrality amid heated geopolitics between these three states. This paper will follow a qualitative approach and analyse secondary literature.

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