Featured BD not interested in US defence deal under Indo-Pacific strategy

[VikingRaider]

Apache with Longbow radar is the best option without a doubt. If unfortunately it does not come, we better wait for T-129's Turkish engine, ATAK 2 and AW-249 to mature. Honestly i don't see the necessity of attack helicopter right now when there's no 4.5 generation fighter and MR-SAM in our inventory.

If an aircraft is vulnerable to enemy MANPAD, AAA and SHORAD then it's better to use an unmanned one which is more viable option for an armed forces like ours. We haven't even fulfilled the requirement for our combat-transport and utility helicopters i believe, better focus on these things.

Also like we said numerous times before, putting all eggs in one basket is a bad idea. We need to make sure that we won't completely rely on one particular country for our military equipment and spares.
The US is using the Rohingya issue to sell weapons with lip service and isolate us from China. From FM's statement it's even more clear that their main goal is that.

The west want Rohingyas stay in BD for another 10 years and there are only 10 years left for FG-2030. Wouldn't be surprise if they try to monopolize the rest of the arms deal for next 10 years. If US had any interest to solve Rohingya or humanitarian issue in Burma, they would've done it by now by putting economic and arms embargo on Burma. After what US did to Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Indonesia and India we better get involved with this country carefully.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Wholeheartedly agree man.

Foreign relations are not black and white. We cannot cutoff countries simply because they have not sided with us on one issue.

American red tape, strings, and hegemonic tendencies makes them an unreliable supplier although their hardware quality is top notch.

BD should learn from the experience of Egypt, Pakistan, etc. on F-16 procurement/modernisation and stay away.

Eqpt such as light arms, howitzers, transporters, infantry gear, comms equipment, NVG, etc. that do not require much ongoing support are okay to buy from them.

Perfect reply to someone who is considering Bangladeshis fool. I wanted to say something ,but you and @The Ronin already countered his lame argument perfectly.

 

[Destranator]

Bangladesh should not expect America to help it build infrastructures. As far as I understand, it will not happen because the engineering and construction companies of America go only to the ME to do that kind of jobs. It was Japan that did this infrastructure building in BD and other countries of the SE Asia.

American companies have a lot of works in their own country and it will become very very expensive to build such things with their help. Yesterday, it was Japan and today, it is Chinese companies who eagerly seek contracts in foreign countries that makes a project cheap.

American involvement may raise the cost of a project 3 times more than the Japanese and many more times than the Chinese. During my job as a part of Japanese engineering/construction team I have once visited Zia Fertilizer Factory. It was built by a Canadian company. It was good, but the Canadian team built all those expensive houses with even swimming pools during their stay.

Americans are more than that and they have a culture of taking their families with them that makes a project very expensive. In the case of Japanese projects, they build makeshift camps if it is remote areas and no woman goes with them.

America's own infrastructure gets a rating of D from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Flint Michigan has lead in its waters.
The US has no interest in infrastructure development as infrastructure companies are not the largest donors to Congressional and presidential candidates.

 

[Bilal9]

Bangladesh's foreign policy in a nutshell:
"Build us stuff, hire our labor or buy our T-shirts otherwise F*** off.
You are either for our T-shirts or against our T-shirts."

Bangladesh wants the US and China to fight over who builds the airport in Noakhali for example.

Noakhali-bashir abdar - International airport wanted in Noakhali. Some idiots actually floated this demand....they think they will get it because of Obaidul Quader.

Practicality and business sense be damned.

 

[nahtanbob]

Foreign relations are not black and white. We cannot cutoff countries simply because they have not sided with us on one issue.

American red tape, strings, and hegemonic tendencies makes them an unreliable supplier although their hardware quality is top notch.

you answered your own questions

 

[nahtanbob]

Bangladesh should not expect America to help it build infrastructures. As far as I understand, it will not happen because the engineering and construction companies of America go only to the ME to do that kind of jobs. It was Japan that did this infrastructure building in BD and other countries of the SE Asia.

American companies have a lot of works in their own country and it will become very very expensive to build such things with their help. Yesterday, it was Japan and today, it is Chinese companies who eagerly seek contracts in foreign countries that makes a project cheap.

American involvement may raise the cost of a project 3 times more than the Japanese and many more times than the Chinese. During my job as a part of Japanese engineering/construction team I have once visited Zia Fertilizer Factory. It was built by a Canadian company. It was good, but the Canadian team built all those expensive houses with even swimming pools during their stay.

Americans are more than that and they have a culture of taking their families with them that makes a project very expensive. In the case of Japanese projects, they build makeshift camps if it is remote areas and no woman goes with them.

What you say is true. The money for paying the Chinese comes from textile exports to USA, Japan & Europe.
At some point expect USA, Japan and European countries are going to tell you to buy their products and stop subsidizing China or lose access to their textile markets. We are not too far from such a situation

 

[EasyNow]

Taking this US offer would have been a massive mistake - well avoided by BD.

The Apache carrots are there to hedge us alongside India at a time when India is in deep trouble. Why the hell will we tie our boat to India's sinking ship?

The problem with China will pass, India will recover and our relationship will be unaffected - because India does nothing for BD anyway.

The US is not doing much for us either - they've not even admonished Burma for us. We are a tiny part of their plans in Asia. India is their man, and it needs much more than BD to pull it out of this mire. They just want us in the mix as ballast.

So no, USA will not punish BD because there's nothing to be gained by doing so.

And, brilliantly, BD has not snubbed USA - we've turned their offer into a counter-request: If you really care so much for BD, help us in other ways! This is an example of perfect diplomacy.

OTOH If we take this deal then we will be entering a world of US / Indian proxyism against Russia and China that will tear BD apart.

Going against China, on a US govts whim, will have unnecessary and far reaching consequences for BD.

 

[mb444]

What you say is true. The money for paying the Chinese comes from textile exports to USA, Japan & Europe.
At some point expect USA, Japan and European countries are going to tell you to buy their products and stop subsidizing China or lose access to their textile markets. We are not too far from such a situation

Unlikely because they wont get it cheaper anywhere else. BD do not get any preferential treatement and BD goods are subject to duties in those markets.

Also it would be kind of silly for US to tell us not to "subsidise" china given how much chinese goods they buy themselves.

All that is happening is US seeking to slowdown chinas rise and flailing around looking for a policy.

It will pass.... if Biden wins status quo will return....

BD has one advantage that global and regional powers dont...... our foreign ministers toupee .....it will bamboozle and scuttle any plans they have regarding BD whether good or bad.

 

[nahtanbob]

Unlikely because they wont get it cheaper anywhere else. BD do not get any preferential treatement and BD goods are subject to duties in those markets.

Also it would be kind of silly for US to tell us not to "subsidise" china given how much chinese goods they buy themselves.

All that is happening is US seeking to slowdown chinas rise and flailing around looking for a policy.

It will pass.... if Biden wins status quo will return....

BD has one advantage that global and regional powers dont...... our foreign ministers toupee .....it will bamboozle and scuttle any plans they have regarding BD whether good or bad.

for a 73 year old his hair is really black
it will be perfectly fair for European, Japanese and American governments to ask Bangladesh to purchase their country's products

 

[HalfMoon]

Great to see Bangladesh giving a middle finger to US & India and purchasing equipment from China instead.

 

[Destranator]

you answered your own questions

I didn't ask any.

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

Noakhali-bashir abdar - International airport wanted in Noakhali. Some idiots actually floated this demand....they think they will get it because of Obaidul Quader.

Practicality and business sense be damned.

You'll be even more surprised to know, that construction has started on this 'Airport'.



Naturally, as soon as I a Chittagonian heard of this matter, I got myself onto Facebook and into the comments section, my my, I wasn't disappointed.


They were throwing fat claims left and right that in essence were declarations of the fact that once this 'airport' is constructed, Bangladesh will turn into some super power.



Aside from the usual racist comment from usual suspects (venomous ultra ?nationalist? Noakhaillas), most comments were about how travellers coming to the touristic sites in Chittagong could benefit from this airport (really xD), which is ridiculous consideration Cox bazar and Chittagong both have their own airports, big ones even.


There was also a little flame war between people from Comilla and noakhaillas about why, there should also be an airport in Comilla, to which noakhaillas took offense (at the equation of Comilla and noakhali being similar cities) came down hard, posting long paragraphs about why Comilla shouldn't have an airport but strangely enough Noakhali should.



So far I've heard the airport will be domestic, and the runway is from the war-era ??

We can rest easy for now, just don't designated it an international airport, that will be disastrous, real chest beating will begin when the airport is considered international.

 

[Leishangthem]

Even a decade later... the statistics is similar. We enjoy trade surplus with US whereas trade deficit with China has only widened

This is so ridiculous, just like US blaming China for their trade deficit.
The reason BD has trade surplus with US , is because the manufacturers especially those transferred from Chinese manufacturers ,imports raw materials from China for manufacturing , to be exported to the US . Without the import of raw materials from china( which results in trade deficits with china) bd wouldn’t have the same trade surplus with the US.The stuff that BD imports are way more vital for BD industry in comparison to China’s .

 

[BitHeroBD]

Dr Momen criticised the USA for not issuing visas to some Bangladeshi students, who secured I-20 from American institutions.

"They have not issued visas to Bangladeshi students who got I-20, but students of the neighbouring countries like India and Pakistan got the same category visas. This is discriminatory," he noted.

This is very discriminatory because Bangladesh's condition is better than other nations in terms of Covid control, impact is much lesser in the country, he argued.

"Still, they did not issue visas to our students, this is not good," he said.

So glad he pointed out this issue. USA needs to treat BD fairly. There is no reason why USA cannot open its embassy to visa services now. Specially for students on an emergency basis. Cruel leadership

 

[BlackViking]

Oh!! Is that so? Whose statement means something then? Yours? Last time i checked he is the FM of GoB and anything he says comes from the PM.

You misunderstood me...sorry that's my fault because of my choice of words...what I'm trying to say is FM said "সামরিক সহযোগিতার বিষয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের আগ্রহের বিষয়ে জানতে চাইলে তিনি বলেন , " যুক্তরাষ্ট্র ডিফেন্সে যেতে চায় , ইক্যুইপমেন্ট বিক্রি করতে চায় , কিন্তু আমরা মারামারিতে নাই । সুতরাং ওই বিষয়গুলোতে আমাদের অনীহা আছে " । But Bangladesh itself made initial request for US made weapons (fighter jets,missile systems,attack helicopter) back in 2018
I'm sure Bangladesh knew the pros and cons of buying US weapons and still made that request. Now US is responding to that request and FM is saying "amra mara mari te nai, amader oniha ase ei sheei"...so yeah..its very very confusing what Bangladesh actually wants.

 

[Michael Corleone]

This is so ridiculous, just like US blaming China for their trade deficit.
The reason BD has trade surplus with US , is because the manufacturers especially those transferred from Chinese manufacturers ,imports raw materials from China for manufacturing , to be exported to the US . Without the import of raw materials from china( which results in trade deficits with china) bd wouldn’t have the same trade surplus with the US.The stuff that BD imports are way more vital for BD industry in comparison to China’s .

raw goods for garments is sourced from elsewhere... from china it's mostly industrial equipments

You misunderstood me...sorry that's my fault because of my choice of words...what I'm trying to say is FM said "সামরিক সহযোগিতার বিষয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের আগ্রহের বিষয়ে জানতে চাইলে তিনি বলেন , " যুক্তরাষ্ট্র ডিফেন্সে যেতে চায় , ইক্যুইপমেন্ট বিক্রি করতে চায় , কিন্তু আমরা মারামারিতে নাই । সুতরাং ওই বিষয়গুলোতে আমাদের অনীহা আছে " । But Bangladesh itself made initial request for US made weapons (fighter jets,missile systems,attack helicopter) back in 2018
I'm sure Bangladesh knew the pros and cons of buying US weapons and still made that request. Now US is responding to that request and FM is saying "amra mara mari te nai, amader oniha ase ei sheei"...so yeah..its very very confusing what Bangladesh actually wants.

it's women, they never really know what they want