What Yunus’ China trip means for Bangladesh-India ties: ‘deep optics’

While Bangladesh’s flags flew high, commemorating a liberation forged with Indian blood, its interim leader was in China sealing deals

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Bangladeshi interim leader Muhammad Yunus (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Xinhua/EPA-EFE

Published: 12:00pm, 1 Apr 2025Updated: 12:06pm, 1 Apr 2025

While Bangladesh celebrated its independence day last week, interim leader Muhammad Yunus was in China for a high-profile visit that signalled a shift in Dhaka’s strategic calculus away from India and towards Beijing.

During his four-day visit from Wednesday, Yunus met Chinese President Xi Jinping and attended the Boao Forum for Asia, an event widely regarded as China’s premier platform for regional diplomacy and economic cooperation.

Wednesday was also Bangladesh’s 54th independence day, a date steeped in the memory of its bloody fight for freedom from Pakistan and the support it received from India.

As India’s President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent warm congratulatory messages invoking the shared history of the 1971 Liberation War, Yunus was already in Hainan, on a trip he said on Saturday opened up a “new chapter” in Sino-Bangladeshi relations.

“It’s very important that we see China as our good friend,” Yunus told reporters during his visit. “Our relationship has been very strong over the years. Our business is very strong, and we benefit from our collaboration with China.”

The trip, however, has fuelled speculation that Bangladesh is recalibrating its foreign policy, tilting away from its historic ally India and looking northward to Beijing. Yunus’ presence in China – instead of delivering a speech to the Bangladeshi people on independence day – is being seen by some as a calculated move to strengthen ties with the economic powerhouse, even as relations with India remain strained.