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| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
By Ankit Panda
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with economics and security in mind.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can’t seem to get enough of South Asia. After hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a five-day visit in Tokyo, he set out to visit India’s neighbors Bangladesh and Sri Lanka last week. Abe’s visit to these countries comes at a time when both countries have deepened their cooperation with China. With his visit, Abe emphasizes Tokyo’s interest in retaining influence in South Asia. Abe’s visits to Dhaka and Colombo are primarily meant to foster greater economic cooperation between them and Japan. Abe made no attempt to hide this: he brought “50 top Japanese corporate executives,” involved in industries ranging from transportation to finance to construction, along with him. Abe described Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as ”countries with a growing influence in economic and political domains.” He further added that he hoped “to introduce the dynamism of both countries to Japan’s economy by strengthening relations with them and engaging in top-level sales activities.” Overall, Abe emphasized the economic aspects of his visit.
Abe’s trip to Bangladesh followed on the heels of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Tokyo earlier this year in May. Abe is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Bangladesh in 14 years–Yoshiro Mori visited the country in 2000. Bangladesh has been trying to woo Japanese investment and made no secret of its intentions during Abe’s visit. As Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali noted point blank: ”This time what we want is investment.” He continued to describe Abe’s visit to Bangladesh as a “milestone” in relations between the two countries. During Hasina’s visit to Japan earlier this year, the Abe government announced $6 billion in aid for Bangladesh. Additionally, a 120 million yen ($1.1 million) deal between the two countries was announced earlier this summer to set up a coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh. Both China and South Korea have historically outpaced Japan in terms of their investment in Bangladesh.
Ahead of Abe’s trip, analysts pondered a possible point of dispute between Japan and Bangladesh as both countries would be vying for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for the 2015-2016 term. However, Hasina, following her meeting with Abe, announced that Bangladesh would withdraw its bid for a non-permanent seat, and support Japan’s candidacy instead. Abe and Hasina also agreed to set up a vice foreign ministerial meeting between their governments early next year to fast-track closer relations between their two countries. Finally, according to Japan Times, Hasina was receptive to the Abe government’s recent resolution reinterpreting Japan’s constitutional ban on collective self-defense, welcoming a more active Japanese role in Asian security affairs.
Read the full story at The Diplomat