White Lives Matter More In Ukraine? – OpEd

 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with US President Joe Biden.

 Photo Credit: The White House

 January 5, 2023  

By Margaret Kimberley

The accuracy of this commentary’s title is borne out by statements made and actions taken by the Ukrainians themselves. In 2020 millions of people around the world protested against racism in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. Ukrainians made it clear that they were not to be included amongst that mass of humanity and in fact expressed their support for white supremacy.

In June 2020, a group of football fans at a match in Ukraine unfurled a banner reading, “Free Derek Chauvin .” Chauvin is the man who murdered George Floyd. Not to be outdone, members of the neo-Nazi group Nazionalny Sprotyv, National Resistance, marched on October 14, 2020 with a banner that made the point very clear. The words “White Lives Matter ” were written in English and in much larger type than the name of the organization which appeared in small type below. October 14 is celebrated as the Day of the UPA, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which fought alongside Nazi Germany after it invaded Ukraine during World War II. The words in the pink graphic on the video read, “On the march of UPA Nazis carefully burned the poster of BLM.” Nazionalny Sprotyv is known for its racist, anti-Russian, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Communist beliefs.

The war propaganda disseminated by the Biden administration and its friends in corporate media tells us to ignore the swastikas, Hitler salutes, and other clear indicators of Nazi sympathies when they appear in Ukraine. Suddenly symbolism which we were told to abhor as indisputable signs of hate speech are now to be accepted or explained away as figments of our collective imagination.

Nazi regalia and symbolism should make assistance to the Ukrainian government an automatic deal breaker. But the U.S. has always been rather flexible in its approach to Nazism. After World War II an intelligence program known as Operation Paperclip brought more than 1,600 German scientists to the U.S. to fight in the new cold war against the Soviet Union. Their links to the Nazi party were covered up so that they might be of assistance to the U.S. Werner von Braun and other Nazi linked scientists were instrumental in creating the U.S. space program.

Ukraine was a divided nation from its very beginnings after World War I, with half of the country hating the Soviet Union so much that they sided with and fought alongside the Germans. January 1 is officially celebrated not just as the first day of the year but as the birthday of Ukraine’s chief Nazi collaborator, Stepan Bandera. The 2023 celebration was no exception but not without embarrassment. The Ukrainian parliament was forced to delete a Twitter post featuring a photo of army commander General Valerii Zaluzhny juxtaposed with an image of Bandera. Bandera massacred thousands of Poles during the war and the Ukrainians had to be reminded through diplomatic channels that everyone isn’t as forgiving as clueless Americans. Just as Operation Paperclip is an inconvenient and rarely discussed truth, Ukraine’s continuing Nazi and white supremacist connections are now hushed up by the U.S. state and its media partners.

It is indeed awkward for Joe Biden to greet president Zelensky at the white house and for him to speak in congress if these facts are openly discussed. Of course Zelensky is president because the Obama administration helped to engineer a coup against an elected Ukrainian president in 2014. Members of congress like senator Chris Murphy and the late John McCain are among those who traveled to Kiev and addressed rallies sponsored by the right wing Svoboda and Right Sector parties and aided in the coup effort.

The Biden administration invitation to Zelensky was an effort to ensure that an additional $45 billion was allocated to Ukraine before the congressional session ended. The standing ovations and blue and yellow flags and cries of “Slava Ukraini!” were orchestrated to get more buy-in at a time when many Americans are asking why their needs go unmet and why Ukraine can’t resume the negotiations it was holding months ago with Russia. It has been reported that the U.S. sent the then prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, to tell Zelensky that any talk of peace had to end . Russia was ready to withdraw in exchange for security guarantees and an end to Ukraine’s efforts to secure NATO membership. But Ukraine is the latest U.S. forever war and its people have to suffer and die because of its dictates.

Perhaps the saddest sight of the night of Zelensky’s congressional speech was the adulation he received from some members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). CBC members Sheila Jackson-Lee and Barbara Leeeagerly sought to shake his hand. Perhaps they are unaware of Ukraine’s white supremacist leanings. But that can’t be true. After all, in 2015 their CBC colleague, the late John Conyers, co-sponsored an amendment that would have barred U.S. funding to the Azov battalion and other Ukrainian neo-Nazi groups. The amendment was ultimately removed from the final spending bill.

CBC member Gregory Meeks is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee and said, “This war is about Russian aggression against Ukraine and the security of Europe, and it is also about democracy over tyranny, and freedom over oppression.” Ukraine has banned left wing parties and collective bargaining rights. Its people are openly racist. Barbara Lee, now elbowing her colleagues to get a little Zelensky facetime, was the only member of congress to have voted against the authorization to invade Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Now she brags about her role in securing more funding for a white supremacist state.

White lives matter just as much in the U.S. as they do in Ukraine. Even Black politicians go along with supremacist ideology. As the war grinds on, and casualties and public spending go ever upward, it is wise to remember that there are very few anti-racists in positions of authority anywhere in the world. Apparently the war propagandists are right. The U.S. and Ukraine are united in every way.

Margaret Kimberley

Margaret Kimberley's is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. Her work can also be found at patreon.com/margaretkimberley and on Twitter @freedomrideblog. Ms. Kimberley can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com."

Challenging China: Turkey Walks A Fine Line On Repressed Uyghurs – Analysis

Uyghurs rally to press the US State Department to fight for the freedom of the majority-Muslim Uyghur population unjustly imprisoned in Chinese re-education camps, at the US Mission to the United Nations, Feb. 5, 2019. Photo: RFA

 January 5, 2023 

By James M. Dorsey

An official visit to Xinjiang to assess the fate of Turkic Muslims in the troubled north-western Chinese Province is a risky proposition by any definition.

Even so, it would be worth the risk if China and Turkey could agree on the terms of a visit.

The problem is that the terms constitute a zero-sum game.

China wins if it controls the program of a visiting Turkish delegation as it does with whoever else is granted access to a region where in recent years, more than one million Turkic Muslims were reportedly incarcerated in reeducation camps dubbed vocational schools.

“Why would we be a tool of Chinese propaganda?” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu snapped at a recent news conference when asked about a visit to Xinjiang by Turkey’s ambassador in Beijing, Abdulkadir Emin Onen.

“It’s been five years since (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping) proposed this. Why have you been preventing this delegation from visiting for five years? Why don’t you cooperate?” Mr. Cavusoglu said.

The foreign minister conceded that “Turkish-Chinese ties have suffered over Beijing being disturbed by our attitude on the Turkic Uyghurs issue,” including a Turkish refusal to extradite to China Uighurs resident in the country.

China and Turkey started discussing a Turkish visit in 2019. However, the talks were put on ice when China effectively closed to shield the nation from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an indication of the importance, both countries attribute to a possible visit, discussion of the terms restarted within weeks of China’s recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

By controlling Mr. Onen’s program, China is seeking to ensure that he walks away from his visit praising the Chinese administration of Xinjiang.

Coming from Turkey, endorsement of China’s effort to Sinicise Islam and turn Uyghur identity into a folk tale would have particular significance.

Turkey has long fashioned itself as the hub of a Turkic world that stretches from the Turkish Diaspora in Western Europe through the Balkans across the Caucasus and Central Asia into Xinjiang and a defender of threatened Muslim communities.

Moreover, Turkey is home to the largest Uighur exile community.

The blue flag of East Turkistan, as Uighurs describe Xinjiang, is banned in China but flies in shop windows and restaurants in Istanbul neighborhoods heavily populated by the ethnic group.

Mr. Cavusoglu’s rare public challenge of China could prove a first test for China’s newly appointed foreign minister, Qin Gang. China has yet to respond to Mr. Cavusloglu.

A former ministry spokesperson, a deputy director-general of its information department, and most recently, ambassador to the United States, Mr. Qin made his name as a pioneer of China’s wolf warrior diplomacy involving confrontational and coercive responses to criticism of the People’s Republic.

Positioning Turkey as unwilling to walk on a Chinese leash, Mr. Cavusloglu is brandishing the nationalist credentials of his ruling Justice and Development or AK Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in advance of a critical election later this year.

With Uighurs on their minds, more than half of Turks polled in multiple surveys over the past two decades express critical and/or negative attitudes towards China.

In one of the latest polls, a survey conducted by the Center for Turkish Studies at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University concluded that only 27 percent view China positively.

Meral Akşener, the leader of the nationalist Iyi or Good Party, one of the opposition parties aligned against the AKP, and Ankara’s mayor Mansur Yavaş, viewed as one of Mr. Erdogan’s potentially most serious challengers, got significant traction on social media for commemorating the 1990 Baren Township Massacre during an armed clash between Uighur militants and Chinese security forces. Twenty-three people are believed to have died in the fighting.

Mr. Erdogan is seeking a third term as president in an election scheduled for June 18, the centennial of the founding of the Turkish republic on the ruins of the Ottoman empire.

Concerned that he could face the most serious challenge to date to his power, Mr. Erdogan uses every trick in the book to ensure that the election goes his way.

Recent polls suggest that the AKP could win less than 30 per cent of the vote.

Challenging China on the Uighurs follows sabre rattling in Syria, where Mr. Erdogan again wants to intervene to subdue Syrian Kurds.

At the same time, Turkey is engaging under Russian auspices with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in a bid to open a pathway for the return of up to four million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Anti-migrant sentiment is a major topic in the election campaign.

Mr. Cavusoglu’s refusal to “be a tool of Chinese propaganda” jars with the past acceptance by Turkey’s state-owned news agency, Anadolu Agency, and journalists working for other pro-government media, of Chinese paid and tightly controlled tours of Xinjiang designed to counter allegations of abuse against Turkic Muslims.

Even so, a recent report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted that in the absence of much Turkish-language content in Chinese media that target foreign audiences, China “is now assertively developing new strategies to engage with local actors in Turkey.”

The strategy emphasises China’s economic and commercial ties to Turkey at a time when the country is struggling with an inflation rate that peaked at about 80 per cent in 2022 but dropped last month to 64.7 per cent.

It’s a strategy that may work.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, slated to build Turkey’s 5G network, has four times more Turkish followers on Twitter than the Chinese embassy in Ankara.

Now and then, Turkey reasserts itself as a rare Muslim nation willing to tackle China publicly on the Uighurs. But, by and large, Turkey shines by mainly remaining silent.

In the final analysis, domestic politics, rather than principled concern, determines if and when Turkey takes on China. This year, elections are the driver.

As a result, Uighur exiles fear that their utility is temporary and that they ultimately could be sacrificed on the altar of Turkish-Chinese economic relations.

Said one exile: “Our existence is tenuous. Our space in Turkey is shrinking.”

James M. Dorsey

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and scholar, a Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the author of the syndicated column and blog.

Oklahoma announces another $226 million in settlements over opioid epidemic

About 3,000 Oklahomans died opioid overdoses between 2016 and 2020

Opioid epidemic was made 'much worse' during pandemic: Narcan inventor

Dr. Roger Crystal, CEO of Opiant Pharmaceuticals and inventor of Narcan, says the best way to combat the opioid epidemic is to reduce demand and previews a new opioid rescue medicine.

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor announced new settlements totaling $226.1 million with three pharmacy chains and a drug manufacturer over the opioid epidemic on Wednesday, bringing the total recoveries in the state to nearly $1 billion.


"The opioid crisis has inflicted unspeakable pain on Oklahoma families and caused the deaths of thousands of Oklahomans," O'Connor said in a statement. "As with prior opioid settlement funds, Oklahoma’s recoveries must be used to abate and treat opioid addictions and to save lives across our state."

About 3,000 Oklahomans died from opioid overdoses between 2016 and 2020, according to O'Connor.

 

Tablets of the opioid-based Hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Portsmouth, Ohio, June 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Bryan Woolston/File Photo / Reuters)

Oklahoma was the first state to reach a settlement with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma for $270 million in 2019.

DRUG DISTRIBUTOR CONTRIBUTED TO OPIOID CRISIS BY IGNORING SIGNS OF ABUSE, FEDS SAY

The latest wave of settlements includes $79.5 million from Walgreens, $73 million from CVS, $41 million from Walmart, and $32.6 million from the opioid manufacturer Allergan.

It's a small part of the nearly $50 billion in settlements that state and local governments have reached with pharmacy chains, drug distributors, and manufacturers in recent years.

 



A Walmart spokesperson noted that the company reached a nationwide deal to pay about $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits.

Walgreens did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but the company announced a similar deal last year to pay about $5 billion to settle lawsuits.

CVS also reached a deal to pay about $5 billion in a nationwide framework.

"We are pleased to progress to a formal agreement and move forward in the resolution of these claims that date back a decade or more," a CVS spokesperson told Fox Business on Wednesday.

Allergan did not respond to a request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Sportswashed: Ronaldo Heads To Saudi Arabia – OpEd

 January 5, 2023 

By Binoy Kampmark

It just keeps getting darker and darker.  For the professionally ignorant, things are only getting better.  With one of history’s great events of sportswashing concluded – the 2022 Qatar World Cup – another state famed for its cosmetic distractions and moneyed seductions made a splash.  Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, his sun setting and his prospects diminishing among Europe’s top clubs, was signed to play in Saudi Arabia. 

He had been seething and fuming at Manchester United, increasingly cast into peripheral, bench warming roles.  The inner truculent brat screamed and found a voice on the ever humbly named show Piers Morgan Uncensored.  In a conversation between brats who felt they had been mistreated over the years, the impression given by Ronaldo was always going to be a love of the game over cash. 

“Is it also that you want to keep playing at the highest level?  That you want to play Champions League football, you want to keep breaking records?” asked Morgan.  In the manner of a ghost writer mulling over the bleedingly obvious, Morgan persisted.  “Again, it comes back to my gut feeling about you that, if it was just about the money, you’d be in Saudi Arabia earning this king’s ransom.  But that’s not what motivates you, you want to keep at the top…”

Whether he was already being courted by the money goons in Riyadh is hard to say, but if that was the case, Ronaldo was keen to keep up appearances.  He wanted goals, to score in the big leagues, to be in the service of the elite clubs.  “Exactly, because I still believe that I can score many, many goals and help the teams.  I believe I am still good and capable to help the national team and even Manchester United.”

The king’s ransom, however, is exactly what he came to accept, though he aggrandised his own appeal by claiming to be hot property on the international transfer market.  “I had many offers in Europe, many in Brazil, Australia, the US, even in Portugal.”  At around £172 million, it will be the largest amount forked out for a football player in history, beating that offered Lionel Mess for his final four years with FC Barcelona at £137.2 million per annum.  And Ronaldo only needs to play till June 2025.

Ronaldo will be helping Al-Nassr FC, whose administrators and backers are already moist with delight.  “History in the making,” their twitter account crowed. “This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves.”  

There is something sickly about such hailing: it projects a fantasy brand of equality, a delusion underwritten by cash. And there’s lots of it.  Ronaldo is there to add rich lashings of sugary cover to the Kingdom’s broader agenda, which has reached across sporting such fields as golf, boxing, tennis, and Formula One.  “We will support the rest of our clubs for qualitative deals with international stars soon,” came the solemn promise of the Saudi Minister for Sports, Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal.

As for the player himself, he shows little clue about who he is doing this for.  “It’s not the end of my career to come to South Africa,” he said at his first Saudi press conference, even with the message of “Saudi welcome to Arabia” in his backdrop.  The faux pas did little to dampen the enthusiasm of fans and officials.  “You don’t need to know the name of a country to make 200 million euros,” remarked one.   Nor, it would seem, its role in perpetrating humanitarian disasters, murdering journalists and indulging in mass executions.

Like Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is luring the big stars like stain removing agents for bloodstained clothes.  Messi may well be considered a footballing demigod among fans and his countrymen, but like Ronaldo, he is keen about the way money talks.  In May 2022, the Argentinian master became tourism ambassador for Riyadh.  “We are excited for you to explore the treasures of the Red Sea, the Jeddah Season and our ancient history,” exclaimed Minister for Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb in twitter-land.  “This is not his first visit to the Kingdom and it will not be the last!”

The broader Saudi agenda here is clear enough.  Such signings are also intended to improve the country’s chances for hosting the 2030 World Cup.  Last year, Riyadh revealed it would be proposing a joint bid for the games that might also include Egypt and Greece.  “Definitely the three countries would invest heavily in infrastructure and would definitely be ready,” Al Khateeb insisted in an interview last November.  “And I know by then Saudi Arabia would have state of the art stadiums and fanzones built.”

Ronaldo, his challenged geography aside, is clear about one thing: he doesn’t want to retire gracefully and live off his accumulated treasure.  Football now is less relevant than Mammon’s calling.  That is something the House of Saud knows all too well.

Cristiano Ronaldo at the Mrsool Park Stadium for his first press conference ahead of his unveiling as an Al-Nassr player. (AN Photo)

Binoy Kampmark

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

 

Myanmar Thanks Bangladesh: A New Height For Ties Between Countries? – OpEd

 January 5, 2023  Eurasia Review 

By Jubeda Chowdhury

Myanamr’s army chief Min Aung Hlaing expressed special thanks to Bangladesh in his address to the countrymen on the occasion of Myanmar’s Independence Day.

This information was found in the report of Qatar-based media Al-Jazeera. According to the report, Min Aung Hlaing gave special thanks to some countries including Bangladesh and India. He thanked these countries for advancing positive relations despite various adversities.

Myanmar is celebrating its 75th Independence Day on Wednesday (January 4). On this day in 1948, the country got independence from Britain. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing’s speech was aired on Myanmar’s state television channel on the occasion of Independence Day.

In the speech, Min Aung Hlaing criticized some countries for interfering in his country’s affairs. On the contrary, he thanked China, India, Thailand, Laos and Bangladesh for promoting cooperative relations for a long time.

As a next-door and friendly neighbour, Bangladesh has been committed to developing an amicable relationship with Myanmar, the ministry said.

On the occasion of the diamond jubilee of the independence of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the people of Bangladesh extended warm greetings and felicitations to the people of Myanmar and wish them inclusive peace and prosperity.

January 13, 2022, marked the 50 years of bilateral ties between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state on January 13, 1972. But there weren’t any seminars, discussions, statements, reciprocation, felicitations between the two neighbors to mark the special day. There were many ups and downs between the tow neighbors over 50 years. But Myanmar-Bangladesh needs to strengthen ties for ensuring the greater interest of the two regions such as South Asia and Southeast Asia.

When Bangladesh celebrated its glorious journey of 50 years, many countries in the world felicitated Bangladesh. Even Pakistan PM Imran Khan has felicitated Bangladesh marking the 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence. But it’s a matter of sorrow that its neighbour, Myanmar didn’t congratulate Bangladesh. Even both countries’ respective embassies remained silent on the issue. Why this is? Because the relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar are strained now. But this strained tie must be smoothed for ensuring greater regional interest. 

However, the relationship between Myanmar-Bangladesh has never been smooth and has gone through frequent ups and downs over the last 50 years on a number of issues. Despite having many possibilities, the two countries have not been able to build a real relationship with each other. The people from both sides are deprived of enjoying neighborly advantages for these stained relations. 

The improved ties between the two neighbors can ensure some common regional advantages. Geographically, Myanmar is located in the eastern part of Bangladesh with a 271 km border. To its southeast, it is at least 150 km wide, due to its hilly terrain and dense forest cover. Strategically, Myanmar enjoys a distinct position between the two Asian giants, China and India. The same position applies to Bangladesh. Naturally, both Bangladesh and Myanmar enjoy important strategic positions in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Basically, Myanmar and Bangladesh both can be used as a gateway between South Asia and Southeast Asia. 

Myanmar can use Bangladesh as a transportation route to reach the markets of Bhutan, Nepal, North East India easily.  Bangladesh and Myanmar share some regional common platforms such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC), an organization made up of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand which seeks strategic and economic development. If Bangladesh and Myanmar improve their relations with each other, their dependence on China and India could be reduced and could increase trade with other countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Bangladesh can be used as an important hub to connect ASEAN and SAARC. Myanmar too, as an ASEAN member, can access the SAARC free-trade bloc through Bangladesh if the Myanmar-Bangladesh ties can be improved. 

In the case of bilateral relations, there were two issues that caused some annoyance between them. The first was the demarcation of the sea-boundary between them. It is a matter of satisfaction that the matter was settled peacefully by the 1982 International Tribunal of the Sea Convention in March 2012. As Myanmar and Bangladesh, both share the Bay of Bengal area and 271km long border, Myanmar and Bangladesh both can take part in tackling nontraditional security threats in the Bay of Bengal such as tackling piracy, illegal drug dealing, human trafficking, environmental degradation, countering terrorists in the region. 

The second is on the Rohingya refugee issue. Between August and November 2017, it was reported that a military operation in Myanmar had forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to cross the border into neighboring Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government has faced the Rohingya crisis many times. In 1978, an anti-insurgency operation by the then military government of Myanmar in Rakhine State resulted in a massive brutal crackdown, with some 300,000 Rohingya crossing the border into Bangladesh. This is again in 1991-92, the second wave of more than 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape the ongoing military repression. The two countries have resolved the issue peacefully through bilateral talks. But current 2017 Rohingya crisis needs a fruitful sustainable solution between Myanmar and Bangladesh to bolster the ties. Definitely, Bangladesh and Myanmar should find a durable Closer Bangladesh-Myanmar ties have great economic potential – but the Rohingya issue must be resolved. Enhanced bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries.

There are other routes to bilateral cooperation. Myanmar is rich in natural resources such as tin, zinc, copper, tungsten, coal, marble, limestone, natural gas, hydropower, etc. Myanmar could thus be a major source of energy for Bangladesh to ensure its energy security.

Myanmar is also a major supplier of natural wood to the world. While it has traditionally eyed foreign investment in the oil and gas sector, the country has recently shifted its focus to attracting production-based investment. The country is well ahead in power generation following a good investment in hydropower generation. The tourism industry is also a promising sector of the country. Religious tourism can be a source of potential. There are many Buddhists Biharis in Bangladesh. 

A number of important Buddhist archeological sites have already been uncovered in different parts of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is believed to be a rich repository of South Asian Buddhist heritage. In order to draw the world’s attention to the rich Buddhist heritage in Bangladesh, the Government organized an international event in collaboration with World Tourism Organization in October 2015.

There are a number of magnificent modern-era Buddhist temples in Bangladesh. The Golden Temple at a hilltop in the Bandarban district is probably the most charming Buddhist temple in Bangladesh. Gigantic Buddha status in Dhaka, Chittagong, and other parts of Bangladesh are special attractions for devotees and tourists. There are also a number of Buddhist learning centers and pilgrimage spots in Bangladesh.

This area of archaeological sites refers to Paharpur in Naogaon, Mahasthangarh in Bagura, Mainamati in Comilla, and Bikrampur in Dhaka district. Each of these sites has unique qualities as part of history. Some archaeological sites are important for both Hindu and Buddhist investigation because religious sculptures of each can be found. Thus, Myanmar and Bangladesh can exchange religious tourism. 

Through the import of gas and electricity, Bangladesh can obtain its future energy security. The two countries can jointly explore oil and gas fields in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh can also contribute to the development of Myanmar’s infrastructure.

The proposed construction of the Asian Highway, funded by the Asian Development Bank, can increase land connectivity between the two countries and increase trade in products such as fertilizers, plastics, cement, furniture, etc. Bangladesh is on the way to the completion of its railway project Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway line. The line will run from Dohazari in Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar (one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country).  This line can be extended to North East India, Nepal, and Bhutan. If this line can be extended to China-South East Asia via Bangladesh’s Ghundhum- Myanmar as part of the proposed Trans Asian Railway Network Asian Highway Network, the whole region can definitely benefit.  Myanmar should take such an initiative to join the Trans Asian Railroad. 

Myanmar, which at present does have sophisticated manufacturing, can import electronics and pharmaceutical products that are readily produced from Bangladesh and benefit from the technology transfer.

However, the two countries can also increase agricultural production through joint ventures. Apart from adopting joint investment projects, Bangladesh can increase imports of various agricultural products including pulses, spices, fish, and rice.  Enhanced bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries. This will create an opening to solve the Rohingya problem and stop militant activities.

Basically, the Rakhine region of Myanmar can be used as a trade hub between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The agro-products in Rakhine need a viable market. Bangladesh can be a big market for the goods that are produced in Rakhine. On the other hand, Bangladesh has vast and tremendous experience in garments and production of agricultural sectors. Myanmar can exchange Bangladeshi expertise to benefit. Myanmar’s products (Known as Burmese products are very popular in Bangladesh), Myanmar and Bangladesh can set up some border hats (border market) between Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost up the trade. India and Bangladesh are benefitting from such kinds of border hats at the border. Thus, strengthening people-to-people contact, bolstering public diplomacy between the two sides can mend the strained ties between two neighbors. 

Myanmar's military junta leader, General Min Aung Hlaing. Photo Credit: Mil.ru