Bangladesh’s new leader is set to visit Malaysia and China later this month in a trip that Dhaka says reflects its independent foreign policy – with the decision to skip India seen less as a snub than a bid to strike a diplomatic balance.
Tarique Rahman, who became Bangladesh’s 11th prime minister in February, plans to visit Malaysia on June 21–22 before a three-day official visit to China from June 23 on his first overseas trip since taking office.
The Malaysia leg, scheduled ahead of any visit to India, is expected to focus on migrant worker welfare, labour migration, recruitment costs and legal employment channels.
Malaysia hosts around 800,000 Bangladeshi workers, accounting for some 37 per cent of its foreign workforce in the manufacturing, construction, plantations and agriculture sectors.
In Beijing, Rahman is expected to further infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative while also seeking fresh investment in technology, renewable energy, agriculture and healthcare, according to Mohammad Shakil Bhuiyan, an assistant professor of political studies at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh.