Posting from another Forum written by a Bangladeshi:
Bangladeshis Feel they are the Number 2 in South Asia but never get the Respect because India and Pakistan Look Down upon BD.
What has BD done to get the Respect?
They try to act like Cheap Attention Seekers. Look at the Recent Hacking of Indian Sites, Boycott of Indian Goods and TV to get Indian Public Attention.
What I dont understand is why Bangladesh which has almost the same population as Pakistan (slightly less) and being almost completely ethnically homogeneous and having democracy is lagging behind Pakistan in terms of economy (Bangladesh economy is half the size of Pakistan aswell as GDP per capita nominal), Bangladesh has no real military power to speak off, Only now its embarking on a nuclear power plant that was originally planned by Pakistan for the erstwhile East Pakistan almost 50 years ago, Not just that but but socially culturally and internationally Bangladesh does not enjoy the same kind of attention that Pakistan gets even though they are both almost the same size and from the same region.
Bangladesh has had the benefit of good relations with India since Independence and has not had to worry about fighting wars in Afghanistan or taking in tens of millions of refugees from Afghanistan, Though Bangladesh did take in Rohingya refugees but not nearly as many as are/were being hosted by Pakistan.
Almost completely lost on South Asia and the world is the huge contribution Bangladesh has made to international peacekeeping aswell as economics with the development of mirco-credit. Bangladesh has a thriving economy and I see Bangladesh replacing Pakistan as the second largest economy of South Asia, It only needs to stamp out the corruption.
Bangladesh does not get the international or even regional respect that it deserves despite its contributions to International peacekeeping and economics with mirco credit development and being the founder of SAARC.
There is anger in Bangladesh because following Independence Bangladeshi people assumed that they would be the number #2 power in South Asia given that the larger population and great economic potential, Not just that but because Pakistan is universally loathed by South Asia, Bangladeshis have a dislike of Pakistanis because of their war time barbarity, Indians dislike Pakistan for being Muslims, Partition and because of Kashmir. Afghanistan dislikes Pakistan because they have been meddling in Afghanistan and reduced Afghanistan to the most miserable nation of the world by using proxies like the Taliban.
So with all this said there is a sense of betrayal in that Bangladesh never did get that mantle of being a regional power despite normal relations with India and at the time of Independence having a larger population than Pakistan. Alot of this is down to the short-sightedness of Bangladesh leaders, But alot of the blame for Bangladesh lack of important regionally and internationally lies in India. For South Asia and the world its still all about Pakistan, "Pakistan's role in Afghanistan", "Pakistan's dispute in Kashmir", "Pakistan fight the Soviets", "Pakistan supporting the Taliban" ,"Pakistan's Intelligence agency", Then its "Pakistan's nuclear weapons progamme", "Pakistan and China", "Pakistan and India, "Pakistan and US", "Pakistani spies" Its still all about Pakistan and its like a broken record!
It just seems that being a responsible and peacekeeping state like Bangladesh doesnt get you billions of dollars of aid or international recognition than being like Pakistan which actively goes around killing people and seeking conflicts that it can involve itself in to get money.
Bangladeshis Feel they are the Number 2 in South Asia but never get the Respect because India and Pakistan Look Down upon BD.
What has BD done to get the Respect?
They try to act like Cheap Attention Seekers. Look at the Recent Hacking of Indian Sites, Boycott of Indian Goods and TV to get Indian Public Attention.