Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz is quoted in the Nikkei Asian Review (NAR) in a report on China’s growing influence in Bangladesh and its implications for the country’s relationship with its neighbor India.

Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz

The report, “China’s economic clout chills Bangladesh-India relations,” looks at the recent Indian efforts to minimize the ostensibly tense relationship between it and Bangladesh.

Press reports in recent weeks suggest that after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was legislated in India late last year, the relationship between the neighbors has soured while Chinese investments have increased. “India’s discomfort about the growing Bangladesh-China bonhomie is palpable,” Riaz told the Nikkei Asian Review. He predicted that China’s expanding trade and investment in Bangladesh will seriously undermine Indian influence. He also warned Dhaka against becoming “the theater for a proxy war” between the two regional powers.