Bangladesh’s Relations with China and India: A Comparative Study

China's influence in South Asia has significantly grown over the years, and in particular Bangladeshi-Chinese relations are now robust and very comprehensive. This is in contrast to Bangladeshi-Indian relations, which are extremely uneven. While the latter are substantial and not totally negative, in comparison to Bangladeshi-Chinese relations they are riddled with controversies. How does one explain this contrast, especially when China lacks the historic-cultural advantages and linkages that India has with Bangladesh?

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Pakistan-Iran Relations: The US Factor

Pakistan-Iran relations have been complex and paradoxical. The United States has tried to influence this relationship on various counts, given that Iran is an important foreign policy concern for the United States and Pakistan is an important neighbour of Iran and has been a United States ally in the global war on terrorism. This article explores Pakistan's policy towards Iran and the extent to which the United States has been an influencing factor in this regard.

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The Growth of China’s Navy: Implications for Indian Ocean Security

The PLA Navy (PLAN)'s capabilities in key areas (assets, trained personnel, experience) are currently insufficient to support long-range sea lanes of communication (SLOC) defense missions. With sufficient effort, Beijing may eventually overcome these obstacles, but it would probably also have to acquire some form of overseas basing access, which its foreign policy still proscribes.

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Crystal Gazing China

A neo-liberal economy, an integrating component of the global village, a Confucian society ruled by a Leninist Party structure, a 21st century economic modernization endeavour cohabiting with an early 20th century political system, China offers a tantalizing proposition for looking into the crystal ball, and whither China becomes a legitimate subject of inquiry, both fascinating and complicated, full of pitfalls and open to dangerously misleading presumptions.

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