Page 37 - Navy Journal 219

Beyond the Bay ...

Bangladesh’s Realpolitik Stake in The IO
As part of Bangladesh’s “look south” policy, Bangladesh has achieved
what she was supposed to achieve. What is needed now is “act south” policy
formulation and implementation to understand why Bangladesh ought to look
beyond the Bay of Bengal. One need to understand that the stake is very high.
One also need to do ‘net-assessment’ among the resources of the Ocean,
Realpolitik among various actors and the associated challenges. And although
detailed discussion about all these factors are outside the scope of this brief
discourse, to do justice to the readers some salient are highlighted in the above
paragraphs.
Besides, if the power of geography and geographic circumstances in the
context of IO are analysed, it will be seen that the outcome dictates the IR of the
IOR countries. In this regard Robert D. Kaplan, “Monsoon: The Indian Ocean
and the Future of American Power” (Kaplan 2010) speaks of IO as an area of the
world, which is likely to be of immense importance for next 200 to 300 or 500
years to come. Furthermore: IO is a single zone of trade and military activity; at
any given point there is a presence of 100 to 120 naval vessels in the IO waters;
many canals and land bridge projects are already underway. China and Japan are
funding canal Isthmus of Thailand to connect the Bay of Bengal with the south
China sea. That means connecting IO with the Western Pacific; Port of Dubai
project is envisaged to link Malay Peninsula on the other side of South China sea;
finally, in addition to the supply of energy for China, India, Japan, South Korea
and others despite tremendous innovation in the Information and
Communication Technology, more than 90% of the commerce are transported
using IO waters. And Bangladesh must view these developments without losing
focus of the ‘Big Picture’- the enormous opportunity provided by the UNCLOS
III as emphasized above.

Two observations from Suchita Ghosh (1995) appear quite interesting and
relevant: the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping’s description of Bangladesh as
“almost like a relative of China”. And that “history pushes Bangladesh away
from India while geography pulls it towards India.” Amidst many divergent
views and actions in the IO between China and India and diametrically opposing
forces of IR between Bangladesh and India, it is the onus of the Bangladeshi
policy makers to unveil the ‘golden means’, the right manoeuvring formula
within the Realpolitik framework for Bangladesh.

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