In a digital meeting organized by an organization of diplomatic correspondents, Lee said it would certainly not be a good idea for Bangladesh to join this small four-nation club (quad) as it would cause major damage to bilateral relations.
Dhaka China’s anxiety about the quad is increasing. Although it has expressed its unhappiness over this alliance many times, but this time it has warned Bangladesh not to join it. It has said that if Bangladesh joins this anti-China alliance, it will hurt bilateral relations.
This unusual warning by Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jiming came weeks after China’s Defense Minister General Wei Feng’s visit to Dhaka. During a meeting with Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, General Feng insisted that the two countries should jointly oppose efforts by external powers to form military alliances in South Asia.
In a digital meeting organized by an organization of diplomatic correspondents, Li said, it would certainly not be a good idea for Bangladesh to join this small club (quad) of four countries, as it would cause huge damage to bilateral relations.
On this disputed statement of the Chinese ambassador, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momin said that Bangladesh follows a non-aligned and balanced foreign policy and will decide for itself what should be done in accordance with these principles.
Momin told reporters on Tuesday, “We are an independent and sovereign country.” We decide our foreign policy ourselves. However, a country can state its stand. The Foreign Minister said, he (Chinese Ambassador) represents a country. He can say whatever he wants to say. He may not want to do so (Bangladesh joining the quad). At the same time Momin said that no member of the Quad has yet contacted Bangladesh. The news agency United News of Bangladesh (UNB) quoted the foreign minister as saying that the ambassador made this remark in a hurry.
What is quad
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is abbreviated as the Quad. It was formed in the year 2007. This includes India, America, Australia and Japan. Although this alliance has been formed to increase cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, but China remains deeply troubled by this. The reason for this is that the organization is also ready to rein in China’s increasing aggression at sea along with other issues. In March this year, there was a summit between the four countries of this alliance.
