Washington At your service, Daily Junge Welt, September 19, 2024

At least in international news, things have been much quieter in Bangladesh lately. It was still in the news after the massive student protests in July and August and the eventual overthrow of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had ruled for 15 years. The visit of a U.S. delegation to Dhaka last weekend brought renewed attention. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s foreign policy arm, has pledged $202 million in financial assistance to the South Asian nation. The pledge, announced Sunday after signing at a state guesthouse in the capital Dhaka, is for three areas: “good governance,” “social and economic opportunity,” and “resilience.” No further action has been taken under those keywords.

The signing took place in the presence of Salehuddin Ahmed, the de facto finance, trade and science minister within an interim government of neoliberal civil servants, science and NGO representatives. The top US envoys were Donald Lew, the US State Department’s director for South and Central Asia, and Brent Nieman, the Treasury’s director of international finance. The national agency for development cooperation has been involved in Bangladesh for a long time in various ways, so officially, the existing USAID partnership agreement alone added 202 million people.

The political element should not be underestimated. The US is engaged in a global hegemony struggle with China. China has invested billions of dollars and continues to invest in numerous cooperative projects in neighboring countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as in the massive infrastructure project known as the “New Silk Road” (BRI). The so-called “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) has been increasingly active in the Maldives and has maintained good relations with Hasina. In the months leading up to her fall, she had become increasingly critical of the US. It is not yet clear how much of a direct complicity she has in her claims that Washington was involved in her ouster. But there seems little doubt that there was a threat. The US has lost much of its former influence in South Asia in recent years, as Pakistan and Afghanistan have fallen back into the hands of the radical Islamist Taliban. Even India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which does not want to alienate any major power and tends to think of itself as such thanks to its booming population and economy, is seen as an “unsafe Cantonese.” Prime Minister Modi maintained a very good personal relationship with former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House during his tenure.

Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his microcredit policy, is known for his closeness to the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was one of the first foreign dignitaries to congratulate him after he took office on August 8. Yunus reportedly met with the U.S. delegation for about an hour. A wide range of individual topics were discussed, according to reports. Among other things, they hope to help eliminate murky financial flows and recoup money that was smuggled out of the country by those associated with the previous government. That much Dhaka Tribune The FBI wrote that it should help track down $8.37 billion, some of which can be traced back to Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Hasina’s son who lives in the US, according to an Indian news agency. PTI In this context, Yunus is said to have spoken of an ‘ocean of corruption’ that needed to be drained.

Also for “economic revitalization”, police and judicial reforms, etc. Team Yunus, which also includes key representatives of the student movement, is tasked with not only maintaining order and replacing a few leaders during the short transition period, but also carrying out a fundamental restructuring for the future of the country. This includes democratic participation, respect for human rights, an independent judiciary, effective control mechanisms and accountable government action.

The fact that the United States has many shortcomings in this regard is irrelevant to Washington’s strategists, as long as they can act as partners with those currently in power in Dhaka on this reform agenda and secure new influence in the future. The delegation met with Mohammad Touhid Hossain, the de facto foreign minister of the interim government, before talking to Yunus. Representatives of various ministries attended a working lunch. There was also discussion with Ahsan H. Mansur, the new central bank governor. “We support Bangladesh’s new dynamism and path to growth,” the U.S. embassy in Dhaka later wrote on X.