Interim Bangladesh leader Muhammad Yunus has sparked outrage after invoking the north-eastern states of India while urging China to ‘extend’ its economy. He also urged the Chinese government to establish an economic base within his country and insisted that Bangladesh was the “only guardians of the ocean” for the region.
“The seven states of India…eastern part of India — are called the Seven Sisters. They are a landlocked region of India. They have no way to reach out to the ocean. We are the only guardians of the ocean for this region. So this opens up a huge possibility. So this could be an extension of the Chinese economy…” he said during an event last week.
The Nobel Peace prize winner met with President Xi Jinping and signed nine agreements during a four-day trip to Beijing last week. Bangladesh also secured a commitment of $ 2.1 billion in investments, loans and grants from the Chinese government and its companies. The state-run BSS news agency also quoted Xi Jinping as saying that China would support the building of an exclusive Chinese industrial economic zone and industrial parks in the other country.
Videos of the interaction have since gone viral on social media platforms with many questioning the correlation between the two factors.
“Interesting that Yunus is making a public appeal to the Chinese on the basis that 7 states in India are land-locked. China is welcome to invest in Bangladesh, but what exactly is the significance of 7 Indian states being landlocked?” asked Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal.
Yunus also mentioned Nepal and Bhutan during his address — noting that the two countries had “unlimited hydropower”.
“That’s an opportunity we should seize and implement. Nepal and Bhutan have unlimited hydropower, which is a blessing. We can bring it to our purpose. From Bangladesh, you can go anywhere you want. The ocean is our backyard,” he added.