Nepal on its side, China now woos Bangladesh: TOI

Just when India-China ties suffered a new low following the recent clashes at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, Beijing seems to be aggressively wooing Bangladesh, a strong ally of India in the neighbourhood, with a host of sops, says The Times of India.

In a report on Saturday, The Times of India stated, the India-China stand-off at Ladakh has also coincided with Nepal redrawing its map to include some Indian territories, presumably under a nudge from China.

While India is working to retaliate to the border violence by China, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers, through various measures mainly to hurt its economy, Beijing has reached out to Dhaka by offering to waive off 97% tariff on 5,161 items that Bangladesh trades with China, says the report.

The Times of India inscribed that, Dhaka had asked for the waiver from China for being a “less developed country”, and Beijing responded favourably on June 16, ironically a day after the Ladakh clash.

Earlier in a statement Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Tariff Commission of the State Council of Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China issued a notice on granting zero treatment to 97 per cent of tariff products of Bangladesh."

The new list adds to Dhaka’s existing benefit of tariff-free trade on 3,095 products with Beijing under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement.

The Times of India inferred that the development, which could lead to Bejing and Dhaka coming closer, can add to the discomfort of Delhi which sees Bangladesh as a strong ally — an equation built over many years that kept China at a distance.

Indo-Bangla ties, though, had taken a setback last year over India’s National Register Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act, both of which generated some unpleasantness in Dhaka, stated The Times of India.

(Source: The Times of India)