Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's first official visit abroad since assuming office last February, has been a two-legged tour of Malaysia and China. This immediately revives memories of the last BNP government's "Look East" policy. The policy was originally adopted in 2001 after the party led by the late Khaleda Zia was elected. At the time, Khaleda Zia said "The doors are open to us in the west, east, south and north but we are focussing on the east because it is good for us". Back then, the motivation was a lack of progress in trade deals within SAARC countries and the perceived domination of India. Almost a quarter of a century later, the motivations today are largely similar.
By choosing Malaysia for his maiden overseas trip, the Prime Minister signaled an intent to move beyond traditional regional alignments. The talks focused heavily on expanding labour migration, energy cooperation (like LNG supply), and exploring partnerships in the semiconductor and fast-growing halal industries. While there, the prime minister recalled his father Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman's visit to Malaysia in April 1979, which strengthened political ties and laid the foundation for labour cooperation between the two countries.
The visit also carried wider regional significance. Malaysia remains one of Asean's influential members and has consistently supported Bangladesh on issues such as the Rohingya crisis.
Closer ties with Malaysia could help Bangladesh deepen its engagement with Asean as Dhaka seeks greater economic integration with Southeast Asia, a move that started under the previous interim government.
The visit to China arguably bears greater geopolitical significance, in the larger picture, while avoiding the perception of too great a shift that going there directly or first may have conveyed. Writing in Global Times, Beijing's English-language mouthpiece, Liu Zongyi, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the visit would demonstrate Bangladesh's commitment to cooperation with China, noting that China has been Bangladesh's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years and has granted zero-tariff treatment to Bangladeshi exports.
The two countries signed 13 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) covering various areas of cooperation on Thursday, ahead of the PM's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
At the same time, China has expressed strong interest in supporting Bangladesh's geopolitically sensitive Teesta River management project through technical assistance, planning and feasibility studies. The language in which this has been communicated so far suggests both sides recognise those sensitivities, and are mindful of progressing in a manner that upholds Bangladesh's sovereignty.
In international relations, first visits are closely watched by friends, rivals, investors, and neighbouring countries alike because they offer clues about a government's foreign policy priorities and geopolitical orientation. In both designing and executing his first visit abroad as prime minister, Tarique Rahman has displayed maturity as well as political acumen. Let us hope they both bear fruit in the months and years ahead, not just for him politically, but the nation as well as a whole.
