ABSTRACT
Bangladesh is South Asia’s youngest nation-state. This state has changed its political boundaries twice; over 40 years ago the area that is now Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. Around 68 years ago the same area belonged to the British Raj. It is therefore no surprise that Bangladesh’s relations with its neighbors have been influenced by the nature of past events and interactions. Besides, the Indo-centric South Asian sub-system has significantly shaped the contemporary foreign policy behavior of Bangladesh. The country shares a 4,096-km-long international border with India, the fifth longest land border in the world. The only other bordering country is Myanmar, with which Bangladesh shares a 190-km-long south-eastern border. Bangladesh’s southern oceanic frontier is also watched over by the powerful navy of her western neighbor. Therefore, while Dhaka maintains good neighborly relations with smaller South Asian states like Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, her diplomatic endeavors within and beyond South Asia have been affected by the so-called ‘India factor’ to such an extent that one observer even proclaimed that Dhaka’s foreign policy of the last four decades can be broadly categorized into two types: ‘pro-India’ and ‘anti-India’ (Chakma, 2012).
