From our second chess.
New Delhi/Dha (Reuters)-India resists Bangladesh requests to resume the issuance of normal volumes of medical visas, citing a shortage of staff against the background of worsening relationships, said six sources, giving China a rare space to expand such proposals and build people.
Most of India visas for Bangladesh in 2023 went to those seeking his affordable private health and Bengal hospital officials, helping to cementing ties between neighbors and restricting China’s regional influence.
“When there is a vacuum, others will come and fill the space,” said one of the four Bangladesh sources, most of them diplomats, to Reuters. “Some people go to Thailand and China.”
Since August, India has been giving out less than 1000 medical visas every working day, which is below a number from 5000 to 7000, said the sources that everyone has sought anonymous, citing their working conditions.
The numbers have fallen as relations have cooled after the temporary Bangladesh government, led by Nobel Peace Laurea, Mohammed Yunus, replaced India’s long -term ally Sheik Hasina.
Running from deadly protests that canceled her in August, Hasina sought asylum in New Delhi, and India did not respond from Bangladesh’s request to send her home for the test.
In 2023, India issued more than 2 million visas to Bangladesh, most of them on medical reasons, state data from both sides show. But its withdrawal has since opened an attractive gap to China.
Only this month has a group of Bangladesh visited the southwestern province of Yunnan for treatment, in an attempt to “explore the potential in the medical tourism market,” said Chinese Ambassador Ya Ven.
And at least 14 of its companies have invested more than $ 230 million in Bangladesh since the temporary government took office, as much of any country during this period, Ven said last week.
The actual Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Yunus, will visit China this month to meet with his President Jinping.
China, with which India is only slowly restoring relations after Himalay’s borderline clashes in 2020, is also considering opening a hospital for friendship in Dhaka, said Bangladesh Government and facilitated access to Bangladeshi looking for treatment there.
China is ready to work with Bangladesh for continuous deepening and researching mutually beneficial cooperation, a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry said.
“Cooperation between China and Bangladesh is not aimed at any third party, nor is it influenced by third -country factors,” the spokesman told Reuters.
India and Bangladesh’s foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
Alienation
The processing of the delayed visa in India alienates not only the Bangladesh government, but also the wider population, said the four sources that could protect India for the benefit of Dhaka for a long time, as the rapid return from Hasina’s party is unlikely.
India has repeatedly cited a shortage of staff at its Dhaka embassy about visa problems, Diplomats and sources of the India government have added that they are concerned about staff security.
New Delhi evacuated many diplomats and their families from his Bangladesh missions in August after public opinion turned against him for the shelter of Hasina, with protesters in the Bangladesh capital attack an Indian cultural center.
Indian government sources said they wanted Bangladesh with medical conditions to provide access to treatment in India, adding that employees would be added to missions in the neighboring country when there is “stability in Bangladesh”.
One of them also attributes less medical visas to the finding that some are abused by people who want to “try to escape difficult conditions in Bangladesh.”
Bottlenecks Visa come against the backdrop of Indian credit lines of over $ 7 billion, extended to Bangladesh for rail projects and Indian economic zones in two ports to infrastructure of nuclear power plants and defense purchases.
This month, the India Foreign Ministry said some of his Bangladesh projects were affected and both sides had discussed “rationalization of the project portfolio”.
However, the links between Bangladesh and China are collecting pace.
While a source stated that India had not officially engaged in any Bangladesh politicians, a delegation led by a former minister of the Nationalist Party in Bangladesh, recently went to China at Beijing’s invitation.
This week, Yunus told Ven that Bangladesh was ready to further open his own market for China after the best solar player Longi Green Energy agreed to set up an office in Bangladesh and invest in production.
Ven also met with a top BNP leader because of what he called “questions of mutual concern,” but it does not give more details.
In contrast, the first meeting between Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected only next month on the sidelines at a conference in Thailand, two Indian sources said.
China’s regional influence is increasing, an Indian analyst said.
“South Asia undergoes a major strategic change in which China is becoming one of the biggest players,” says Happymon Jacob, who teaches international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University in the Indian capital.
“With every South Asian country, the traditional memory that India enjoyed is called into question.”
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