The Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has said that the relationship between China and Bangladesh will be substantially damaged if it joins the four nation initiative Quad.
Terming the four nation initiative Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, consisting of US, Japan, Australia and India as a military alliance aimed against China’s resurgence and its relationship with neighbouring countries, Li Jiming said that Bangladesh should not join it since it will not derive any benefit from it.
Speaking to Diplomatic Correspondents of Bangladesh in Dhaka virtually on Monday, Ambassador Li Jiming said that history has proved that partnerships like Quad damage the social, economic development and people’s well being of the neighbours, reports UNB.
Earlier, Chinese State Councillor and Minister of National Defence Wei Fenghe had met President Abdul Hamid on April 27 during a short visit to Bangladesh. The two sides had agreed to advance bilateral military cooperation.
Xinhua in its report on the visit of the Chinese Defence Minister to Bangladesh quoted Wei Fenhe as saying that to jointly maintain regional peace and stability, the two sides should make joint efforts against powers outside the region setting up military alliances in South Asia and practicing hegemonism.
Quad took shape in 2007 on the initiative of Japan as an informal dialogue mechanism between the US, Japan, Australia and India. In the first ever joint statement issued by the Quad leaders on March 12, they expressed their commitment to promote a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law to advance security and prosperity and counter threats to both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
