Bangladesh Defense Forum
Actors Involved:
The complexities of South Asian geopolitical environment increase because of the involvement of extra-regional political actors, their varying power projection capabilities and conflicting geopolitical interests, and because of the existence of peculiar relationship pattern between the extra-regional and regional political actors.
Conflicting Geopolitical Interests of Different Political Actors
Conflicting geopolitical interests of the major powers have caused the emergence of two rival power centers in South Asia who are polarizing the region through drawing other regional actors of varying power projection capabilities into their respective spheres of influence to dominate the region. Below I have described geopolitical interests of different political players who have direct bearings on the geopolitical environment of South Asia to understand the existing geopolitical complexities and to determine the strategic imperatives of Bangladesh:
Indian Strategic Interests
1. To deter and discourage any nation in the region from acquiring significant military and economic power and to bind them through various treaty agreements to gain disproportionate amount of influence on these nations so as to strengthen its grip on them.
2. To foil any attempt by a neighboring state to enter into an agreement with a third party that may have direct or indirect anti-India bias.
3. To consider the Indian Ocean a vital strategic area of interest and to follow an aggressive naval strategy to control the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) to deny other nations playing any significant role in and around the Indian Ocean.
4. To discourage broad-based regionalism and to promote bilateral-ism in negotiations with neighbors with regards to sharing regional natural resources such as international river water in order to gain unequal benefits.
5. To use its neighbors as mere land-corridors to establish road-links with South-East and Central Asia to expand its sphere of influence.
Chinese Strategic Interests
1. To establish Chinese territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA) through rejecting McMahon Line on the ground that it is illegal, unjust, and unfair.
2. To establish close naval links with countries in and around the Indian Ocean to protect its commercial and energy interests through securing Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC).
3. To cultivate deep economic, political, and military relations with countries adjacent to Indian border to create its own strategic domain in South Asia and to limit the room for strategic maneuver by India and its allies.
4. To establish direct road links with Myanmar and Bangladesh to increase trade and commerce and to gain access to the Bay of Bengal for its land-locked South-Western region.
The U.S. Strategic Interests
1. To seek strategic partnership with significant regional countries to counterbalance rising Chinese economic, political, and military influence in South Asia.
2. To form regional consensus against terrorism and to establish close cooperation with regional countries in general and Pakistan in particular to stabilize Afghanistan, and to arrest the spread of extremism in the region as a whole.
3. To establish close relations with regional countries to strengthen democratic institutions, and to enhance cooperation through increased socio-economic interactions.
4. To work with regional countries for the creation of a congenial atmosphere in Myanmar to restore democracy, to improve human rights record, and to end isolation.
Pakistani Strategic Interests
1. To maintain nuclear parity with India to protect its territorial integrity and its interest in Kashmir.
2. To stop being encircled by hostile nations by limiting Indian influence in Afghanistan through cultivating deep relations at levels of Afghan government and people to create a congenial political atmosphere for enhanced mutually beneficial security and economic cooperation.
3. To use geographical advantage to increase its strategic value to China by allowing easy access to Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and to act as a junction of West, Central, and South Asia to increase economic interactions between resource efficient and resource deficient countries.
4. To increase economic, political, and military cooperation with other countries to diminish Indian influence in South Asia and adjacent regions.
The complexities of South Asian geopolitical environment increase because of the involvement of extra-regional political actors, their varying power projection capabilities and conflicting geopolitical interests, and because of the existence of peculiar relationship pattern between the extra-regional and regional political actors.
Conflicting Geopolitical Interests of Different Political Actors
Conflicting geopolitical interests of the major powers have caused the emergence of two rival power centers in South Asia who are polarizing the region through drawing other regional actors of varying power projection capabilities into their respective spheres of influence to dominate the region. Below I have described geopolitical interests of different political players who have direct bearings on the geopolitical environment of South Asia to understand the existing geopolitical complexities and to determine the strategic imperatives of Bangladesh:
Indian Strategic Interests
1. To deter and discourage any nation in the region from acquiring significant military and economic power and to bind them through various treaty agreements to gain disproportionate amount of influence on these nations so as to strengthen its grip on them.
2. To foil any attempt by a neighboring state to enter into an agreement with a third party that may have direct or indirect anti-India bias.
3. To consider the Indian Ocean a vital strategic area of interest and to follow an aggressive naval strategy to control the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) to deny other nations playing any significant role in and around the Indian Ocean.
4. To discourage broad-based regionalism and to promote bilateral-ism in negotiations with neighbors with regards to sharing regional natural resources such as international river water in order to gain unequal benefits.
5. To use its neighbors as mere land-corridors to establish road-links with South-East and Central Asia to expand its sphere of influence.
Chinese Strategic Interests
1. To establish Chinese territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA) through rejecting McMahon Line on the ground that it is illegal, unjust, and unfair.
2. To establish close naval links with countries in and around the Indian Ocean to protect its commercial and energy interests through securing Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC).
3. To cultivate deep economic, political, and military relations with countries adjacent to Indian border to create its own strategic domain in South Asia and to limit the room for strategic maneuver by India and its allies.
4. To establish direct road links with Myanmar and Bangladesh to increase trade and commerce and to gain access to the Bay of Bengal for its land-locked South-Western region.
The U.S. Strategic Interests
1. To seek strategic partnership with significant regional countries to counterbalance rising Chinese economic, political, and military influence in South Asia.
2. To form regional consensus against terrorism and to establish close cooperation with regional countries in general and Pakistan in particular to stabilize Afghanistan, and to arrest the spread of extremism in the region as a whole.
3. To establish close relations with regional countries to strengthen democratic institutions, and to enhance cooperation through increased socio-economic interactions.
4. To work with regional countries for the creation of a congenial atmosphere in Myanmar to restore democracy, to improve human rights record, and to end isolation.
Pakistani Strategic Interests
1. To maintain nuclear parity with India to protect its territorial integrity and its interest in Kashmir.
2. To stop being encircled by hostile nations by limiting Indian influence in Afghanistan through cultivating deep relations at levels of Afghan government and people to create a congenial political atmosphere for enhanced mutually beneficial security and economic cooperation.
3. To use geographical advantage to increase its strategic value to China by allowing easy access to Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and to act as a junction of West, Central, and South Asia to increase economic interactions between resource efficient and resource deficient countries.
4. To increase economic, political, and military cooperation with other countries to diminish Indian influence in South Asia and adjacent regions.
Source: https://www.PKDefense.com
