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If not Kamala Harris, who else could be the Democratic nominee for November’s election?

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Updated 23 July 2024
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RAY HANANIA

If not Kamala Harris, who else could be the Democratic nominee for November’s election?

If not Kamala Harris, who else could be the Democratic nominee for November’s election?
  • Arab American analysts assess the Democrats seeking to be the candidate who will challenge Donald Trump
  • Arab Americans alienated by Biden’s Gaza stance could prove decisive in key battleground states
Updated 23 July 2024
Ephrem Kossaify & RAY HANANIA

NEW YORK CITY/CHICAGO: President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection campaign and drop out of the US presidential race has created sufficient momentum for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, according to three Arab American analysts.

Biden, who endorsed Harris in his withdrawal announcement on Sunday, was trailing former President Donald Trump in opinion polls amid a growing Arab American #AbandonBiden movement, and wider demands he drop out of the 2024 race following his disastrous debate performance on June 27 in Atlanta.




Biden was trailing former President Donald Trump in opinion polls. (AFP)

What was to be a coronation for the 81-year-old Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19 has now become an open contest in which nearly 4,700 party delegates will vote by state for the nominee of their choice to challenge Trump, the Republican Party nominee.

Rana Abtar, a talk show host in Washington D.C. for Asharq News, expects Harris to become the Democratic nominee, although several other candidates might also be considered. However, she believes the Democrats “must show unity” if they are to win the November election.

“Today, what we are noticing is that Democrats are starting to support Harris, one by one,” she told Arab News. “There were some delegates in a couple of states who have already voted to support Kamala Harris. That means that their votes will reflect in the Democratic National Convention.

“The rest of the Democrats who have not supported Harris yet are expected to fall in line soon. At some point we will see all the Democrats, or most of the Democrats, line up behind Harris. It is very important for the Democrats to present a show of unity after the dilemma that their party was facing following President Biden’s announcement that he will not seek a second term.”

Biden’s withdrawal from the race frees up his convention delegates from the nation’s 50 states and provinces to support any candidate during the convention. Many alternative names are being floated, including centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Noting that Harris is popular among African American voters, a traditional core pillar of the Democratic Party support, Abtar said many still view her as a part of the Biden administration’s policies that fueled the #AbandonBiden movement, in which Arabs and Muslims voted in key swing state primaries for “uncommitted” or “no vote” options rather than for the president.




Donald Trump chose JD Vance has his running mate last week. (AFP)

“Harris is not that popular in the polls,” Abtar said. “A lot of Democrats are worried that her chances against Trump are the same as the chances of President Biden against Trump. Of course, in the coming days we will see Harris getting out there, talking to the voters, because in the past, in her role as vice president, she did not speak directly to the American people on many occasions.

“Biden gave her the immigration matter, which by itself put her in a very awkward position, especially given that the Republicans’ main attack against Democrats concerns immigration and border security.

“But I do believe that the most important element here is not Harris. It will be who she will pick as her running mate because voters need excitement. Democratic voters need excitement to get out and vote.”

FASTFACTS

The convention process

  • The Democratic National Convention takes place Aug. 19-22 in Chicago

  • Had President Joe Biden remained in the race, delegates elected to support his candidacy in the primaries would have been ‘mandated’ to cast their vote for his nomination

  • Since Biden has withdrawn, it opens the way for an ‘open convention’ in which delegates are ‘released’ to vote for whomever they wish

  • On Wednesday, representatives of the 50 states and 7 territories are expected to announce who they support for president and vice president

  • Whoever receives a majority will become the official nominee for president and for vice president

Abtar said third-party candidates, such as independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, are often viewed as “election spoilers” — people who might drain votes from Harris or even from Trump.

“Kennedy’s numbers are considered pretty high for an independent candidate and his voters might make a difference in the election season by taking away votes from … Trump or Harris … if she gets the official nomination,” Abtar said.

Any of the individuals currently being suggested as replacements for Biden could become nominees for vice president, including Pritzker, a billionaire with presidential ambitions of his own.




Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who some thought could be a contender, backed Harris on Monday. (AFP)

Amal Mudallali, a former ambassador to the UN and CEO of Bridges International Group, thinks Harris has a “problem of perception.”

She told Arab News: “The perception is that she was not a strong vice president, that she will not be a strong candidate and that she will not be able to defeat Trump.”

Although Democrats seemed to be moving fast to rally behind Harris, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement on Monday, Mudallali remains cautious.




Former First Lady Michelle Obama name has also been floated in Democratic circles. (AFP)

“It’s all up in the air because there are still very powerful Democrats calling for an open convention and to have an open field for everybody to throw their hats into the ring, and to see if they can get the strongest candidate for the Democratic Party to be able to defeat Trump,” she said.

The impact of the independent candidates in the election cannot be written off either, she added.

“In very close elections, independent candidates can do a lot of harm. Because this election is a very close race — you are talking about a couple of thousands of, or a thousand, votes — that could make or break an election campaign,” Mudallali said.

“Let’s say if Kennedy was able to get a lot of votes from the Democrats, this could hurt Democrats more and that will be a big problem for them.

“But so far we don’t know who the Democratic Party candidate will be. If the individual is a very strong candidate, the party might be able to unite the anti-Trump constituency, which will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate on the Democratic side. In that case, the independents will not make a difference.”




Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be her running mate on the first “all woman ticket.” (AFP)

Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, believes Harris is “all but certain” to replace Biden as the nominee, and suggested that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be her running mate on the first “all woman ticket.”

He told Arab News: “The speculation is heavily focused on who will be her vice-presidential running mate, including possibly an all-women ticket should she choose Whitmer. That’s unprecedented and carries risks. But Whitmer could help deliver the key swing state of Michigan, and an all-woman team could re-energize the currently largely demoralized Democratic base.”




“A lot of Democrats are worried that her chances against Trump are the same as the chances of President Biden against Trump,” said Rana Abtar. (AFP)

He added: “Harris’s likability ratings with the American public have never been high. But at this point, the decision by the Democratic Party and President Biden to put her name forward is largely based on funding and finances. She is the only one who will be able to qualify for all the money, the hundreds of millions of dollars, that have been raised so far. Therefore, her choice for a running mate will also be key in terms of bringing around that Democratic base and for the general likability of that Democratic ticket.”

Maksad believes Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, and speculation about Whitmer’s addition to the ticket, might hold sway over the strong Arab and Muslim vote in Michigan, many of whom voted against the Biden-Harris team in the Feb. 27 Democrat Party primary contest.




Democrats seemed to be moving fast to rally behind Harris. (AFP)

“Arab Americans are not monolithic,” he said. “They are a diverse group with differing priorities spread out across four battleground states. Michigan gets a lot of attention, but also Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

“In Michigan, where there are 100,000 of them, they have strong feelings about the war in Gaza and President Biden not doing enough to stop the war. Having Biden step aside opens up the potential for the Democratic Party to make inroads among Arab Americans in Michigan again. And should the vice president (choice) in fact be the governor of Michigan, that will then give Democrats even more opportunities to make inroads and win Michigan over again, as a key battleground state.”

Topics: 2024 US Elections Kamala Harris Joe Biden Editor’s Choice Michelle Obama Gretchen Whitmer

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Srebrenica women bury loved ones but remain haunted by memories of 1995 massacre

Updated 10 sec ago

Srebrenica women bury loved ones but remain haunted by memories of 1995 massacre

Srebrenica women bury loved ones but remain haunted by memories of 1995 massacre
Updated 10 sec ago
SREBRENICA: Three decades after their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons were killed in the bloodiest episode of the Bosnian war, women who survived the Srebrenica massacre find some solace in having been able to unearth their loved ones from far-away mass graves and bury them individually at the town’s memorial cemetery.
The women say that living near the graves reminds them not only of the tragedy but of their love and perseverance in seeking justice for the men they lost.
“I found peace here, in the proximity of my loved ones,” said Fadila Efendic, 74, who returned to her family home in 2002, seven years after being driven away from Srebrenica and witnessing her husband and son being taken away to be killed.
The Srebrenica killings were the crescendo of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, which came after the breakup of Yugoslavia unleashed nationalist passions and territorial ambitions that set Bosnian Serbs against the country’s two other main ethnic populations — Croats and Bosniaks.
On July 11, 1995, Serbs overran Srebrenica, at the time a UN-protected safe area. They separated at least 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from their wives, mothers and sisters and slaughtered them. Those who tried to escape were chased through the woods and over the mountains around town.
Bosniak women and children were packed onto buses and expelled.
The executioners tried to erase the evidence of their crime, plowing the bodies into hastily dug mass graves and scattering them among other burial sites.
Mothers have sought the remains of loved ones for years
As soon as the war was over, Efendic and other women like her vowed to find their loved ones, bring them back and give them a proper burial.
“At home, often, especially at dusk, I imagine that they are still around, that they went out to go to work and that they will come back,” Efendic said, adding: “That idea, that they will return, that I am near them, is what keeps me going.”
To date, almost 90 percent of those reported missing since the Srebrenica massacre have been accounted for through their remains exhumed from hundreds of mass graves scattered around the eastern town. Body parts are still being found in death pits around Srebrenica and identified through painstaking DNA analysis.
So far, the remains of more than 6,700 people – including Efendic’s husband and son — have been found in several different mass graves and reburied at the memorial cemetery inaugurated in Srebrenica in 2003 at the relentless insistence of the women.
“We wrote history in white marble headstones and that is our success,” said Kada Hotic, who lost her husband, son and 56 other male relatives in the massacre. “Despite the fact that our hearts shiver when we speak about our sons, our husbands, our brothers, our people, our town, we refused to let (what happened to) them be forgotten.”
The Srebrenica carnage has been declared a genocide by two UN courts.
Dozens of Srebrenica women testified before the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, helping put behind bars close to 50 Bosnian Serb wartime officials, collectively sentenced to over 700 years in prison.
The loss that never goes away
After decades of fighting to keep the truth about Srebrenica alive, the women now spend their days looking at scarce mementos of their former lives, imagining the world that could have been.
Sehida Abdurahmanovic, who lost dozens of male relatives in the massacre, including her husband and her brother, often stares at a few family photos, two handwritten notes from her spouse and some personal documents she managed to take with her in 1995.
“I put these on the table to refresh my memories, to bring back to life what I used to have,” she said. “Since 1995, we have been struggling with what we survived and we can never, not even for a single day, be truly relaxed.”
Suhra Malic, 90, who lost two sons and 30 other male relatives, is also haunted by the memories.
“It is not a small feat to give birth to children, to raise them, see them get married and build them a house of their own and then, just as they move out and start a life of independence, you lose them, they are gone and there is nothing you can do about it,” Malic said.
Summers in Srebrenica are difficult, especially as July 11, the anniversary of the day the killing began in 1995, approaches.
In her own words, Mejra Djogaz “used to be a happy mother” to three sons, and now, “I look around myself and I am all alone, I have no one.”
“Not a single night or day goes by that I do not wake up at two or three after midnight and start thinking about how they died,” she said.
Aisa Omerovic agrees. Her husband, two sons and 42 other male relatives were killed in the massacre. Alone at home, she said she often hears the footsteps of her children and imagines them walking into the room. “I wait for the door to open; I know that it won’t open, but still, I wait.”

Trump says new tariff deadline ‘not 100 percent firm’

Trump says new tariff deadline ‘not 100 percent firm’
Updated 7 min 6 sec ago
AFP

Trump says new tariff deadline ‘not 100 percent firm’

Trump says new tariff deadline ‘not 100 percent firm’
  • US leader sent letters to trading partners including key US allies Japan and South Korea
  • He also threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries aligning themselves with BRICS nations
Updated 7 min 6 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war by threatening more than a dozen countries with higher tariffs Monday – but then said he may be flexible on his new August deadline to reach deals.
Trump sent letters to trading partners including key US allies Japan and South Korea, announcing that duties he had suspended in April would snap back even more steeply in three weeks.
Tokyo and Seoul would be hit with 25 percent tariffs on their goods, he wrote. Countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia were slapped with duties ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent.
But in a move that will cause fresh uncertainty in a global economy already unsettled by his tariffs, the 79-year-old once again left the countries room to negotiate a deal.
“I would say firm, but not 100 percent firm,” Trump told reporters at a dinner with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when asked if August 1 deadline was firm.
Pressed on whether the letters were his final offer, Trump replied: “I would say final – but if they call with a different offer, and I like it, then we’ll do it.”
The US president had unveiled sweeping tariffs on imports on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2, including a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries.
But he quickly suspended all tariffs above 10 percent for 90 days following turmoil in the markets.
They were due to kick back in on Wednesday and Trump sent the letters in advance of that deadline.
Trump’s near-identically worded letters to Japanese and South Korean leaders said he would impose 25 percent tariffs as their trading relationships with Washington were “unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”
He warned of further escalation if there was retaliation against the levies.
But Trump on Monday also signed an order formally extending the Wednesday deadline, postponing it to August 1.
The new August date effectively marks a further delay – and Trump’s latest comments threaten to compound the uncertainty over when the deadline really is.
According to letters posted to Trump’s Truth Social platform, products from Indonesia will face a 32 percent tariff, while the level for Bangladesh is 35 percent and Thailand, 36 percent.
Most countries receiving letters so far had duties similar or unchanged from rates threatened in April, although some like Laos and Cambodia saw notably lower levels.
The Trump administration is under pressure to show results after promising “90 deals in 90 days.”
So far only two firm deals have emerged, with Britain and Vietnam, plus an agreement to dial back super-high tit-for-tat tariffs with China.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a cabinet meeting Monday that the announcement of the 25 percent tariffs is “genuinely regrettable,” local media reported.
South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac meanwhile met with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington, expressing hope that a bilateral summit could soon be held to achieve “mutually beneficial outcomes across key pending issues.”
Asked why Trump opted to start with Japan and South Korea, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s the president’s prerogative, and those are the countries he chose.”
Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Tuesday he wanted a “better deal” than the 36 percent tariff Trump threatened to impose, adding: “The most important thing is that we maintain good relations with the US.”
Malaysia said it was “committed to continuing engagement with the US toward a balanced, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive trade agreement,” its trade ministry said in a statement, after Washington imposed a 25 percent tariff on the Southeast Asian nation.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that there would be more deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”
Trump has also threatened an extra 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.
But partners are still rushing to avert Trump’s tariffs altogether.
The European Commission said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump on trade when the pair spoke Sunday.

Mexico’s president calls march against mass tourism ‘xenophobic.’ Critics blame government failures

Mexico’s president calls march against mass tourism ‘xenophobic.’ Critics blame government failures
Updated 14 min 22 sec ago
AP

Mexico’s president calls march against mass tourism ‘xenophobic.’ Critics blame government failures

Mexico’s president calls march against mass tourism ‘xenophobic.’ Critics blame government failures
  • The Mexico City Anti Gentrification Front, one of the organizations behind the protest said said this was a result of years of failures by the local government to address the root of the problems
Updated 14 min 22 sec ago
AP

MEXICO CITY: A fierce protest in Mexico City railing against gentrification and mass tourism was fueled by government failures and active promotion to attract digital nomads, according to experts, who said tension had been mounting for years.
The criticism comes after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum alleged that Friday’s protest was marked by xenophobia, reviving a debate over an influx of Americans in the city.
Many Mexicans say they’ve been priced out of their neighborhoods — in part because of a move made by Sheinbaum in 2022, when she was the Mexico City mayor and signed an agreement with Airbnb and UNESCO to boost tourism and attract digital nomads despite concern over the impact short-term rentals could have.
‘Gringo: Stop stealing our home’
On Friday, that came to a head. A largely peaceful protest of hundreds of demonstrators marched through tourism centers of the city with signs reading “Gringo: Stop stealing our home” and “Housing regulations now!”
Near the end of the march, a group of protesters turned violent, breaking the windows of storefronts and looting a number of businesses. In one case, a protester slammed a butter knife against the window of a restaurant where people were hiding, and another person painted “kill a gringo” on a nearby wall.
“The xenophobic displays seen at that protest have to be condemned. No one should be able to say ‘any nationality get out of our country’ even over a legitimate problem like gentrification,” Sheinbaum said Monday. “We’ve always been open, fraternal.”
The frustrations were built upon years of mass tourism and rising rent prices in large swathes of the city. The influx of foreigners began around 2020, when Americans flooded into the Mexico City to work remotely, dodge coronavirus restrictions and take advantage of cheaper living costs.
In the years since, choice neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa, lush central areas dotted with cafes and markets, have grown increasingly populated by foreign tourists and the remote workers known as digital nomads, and there are more temporary housing units rented through companies like Airbnb that cater to tourists.
As they have, rent and living prices have soared and English has been increasingly common on the streets of those areas. Some groups have described the phenomenon as a sort of “neo-colonialism.”
Mounting tensions
The Mexico City Anti-Gentrification Front, one of the organizations behind the protest, it was “completely against” any acts of physical violence and denied that the protests were xenophobic. Instead, the organization said the protest was a result of years of failures by the local government to address the root of the problems.
“Gentrification isn’t just foreigners’ fault, it’s the fault of the government and these companies that prioritize the money foreigners bring,” the organization said in a statement. Meanwhile “young people and the working class can’t afford to live here.”
In its list of demands, the organization called for greater rent controls, mandates that locals have a voice in larger development projects in their area, stricter laws making it harder for landlords to throw out residents and prioritizing Mexican renters over foreigners.
Mexico’s protest comes on the back of a wave of similar protests across Europe railing against mass tourism. Tensions in Mexico have also been compounded by wider inequalities and the Trump administration targeting Latino communities in the US as it ramps up deportations.
The US Department of Homeland Security took a jab at protesters Sunday, writing in a post on the social media platform X: “If you are in the United States illegally and wish to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home app to facilitate your departure.”
Government failures
Protesters’ cries against government failures were echoed by experts, who said that surging gentrification is a product of both shortage of affordable housing in the city and longtime government failures to regulate the housing market.
Antonio Azuela, lawyer and sociologist and others said that they do see the protest as a xenophobic backlash, and around 2020 the core of the problem was the influx of “digital nomads” in the city, but it grew out of hand because of lax housing laws.
“What has made this explode is lack of regulation in the market,” Azuela said.
Mexico City’s government over the course of decades has made a few efforts to control development and create affordable housing.
Legislators estimated there are about 2.7 million houses and apartments in the city, but it needs about 800,000 more. But such affordable housing developments that have popped up often are pushed off to the fringes of the city, said Luis Salinas, a researcher at National Autonomous University of Mexico who has studied gentrification in Mexico City for years.
Taking advantage of ‘insufficient’ laws
Controls, meanwhile, have been marked by lack of enforcement, which developers travel services companies like Airbnb take advantage of, he said.
Today, more than 26,000 properties in Mexico City are currently listed on Airbnb, according to the Inside Airbnb, an advocacy organization that tracks the company’s impact on residential communities through data. That’s compared to 36,000 properties in New York City and 19,000 in Barcelona, where protests have also broken out.
“The government has treated housing like it’s merchandise,” Salinas said. The actions the government is taking “are completely insufficient. The federal government needs to be intervening far more nowadays.”
Airbnb said it helped contribute more than a billion dollars in “economic impact” to Mexico City last year and that spending by guests has supported 46,000 jobs in the city. “What’s needed is regulation based not on prohibitions, but on respect for rights and transparency of obligations,” it said in a statement.
Last year, Mexico City’s government approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s in an effort to control prices and also set caps on short-term rentals to 180 nights a year, but Salinas said that enforcement of short-term rental legislation has been put on pause until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
And even then, the country’s government will have to take far greater actions to get the situation under control, said Azuela.
“This isn’t going to end by just reigning in Airbnb,” he said. “They’re going to have to do a whole lot more.”

Topics: Mexico

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China investigates Wuhan former mayor who presided over COVID-19 response

China investigates Wuhan former mayor who presided over COVID-19 response
Updated 35 min 10 sec ago
AFP

China investigates Wuhan former mayor who presided over COVID-19 response

China investigates Wuhan former mayor who presided over COVID-19 response
  • Zhou Xianwang served as the top Communist Party official in the Chinese metropolis from 2018 until early 2021
  • Beijing’s two key anti-corruption watchdogs said Zhou was suspected of ‘serious violations of disciplines and laws’
Updated 35 min 10 sec ago
AFP

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have launched an investigation into the former mayor of the central city of Wuhan, Beijing’s top anti-graft bodies said Tuesday.

Zhou Xianwang served as the top Communist Party official in the Chinese metropolis from 2018 until early 2021, playing a major role in the handling of the first known outbreak of Covid-19.

Beijing’s two key anti-corruption watchdogs said Zhou was suspected of “serious violations of disciplines and laws” – a common euphemism for graft.

He “is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation,” according to a statement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The statement did not provide details about Zhou’s alleged misconduct or the period of time during which it took place.

Zhou has served in a range of high-level roles, including from 2021 to 2023 as vice chairman of a provincial committee under China’s top political advisory body.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has engaged in an expansive anti-corruption campaign since coming to power over a decade ago, ostensibly aimed at stamping out graft at all levels of the ruling Communist Party.

Supporters say the drive promotes clean governance, while critics say it serves as a tool for Xi to oust political opponents.

Topics: Coronavirus COVID-19 China Wuhan

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Bangladesh warms to China, Pakistan after revolution as India fumes

Bangladesh warms to China, Pakistan after revolution as India fumes
Updated 08 July 2025
AFP

Bangladesh warms to China, Pakistan after revolution as India fumes

Bangladesh warms to China, Pakistan after revolution as India fumes
  • There is deep resentment in Dhaka over fugitive ex-PM Hasina, who escaped uprising in August and flew to New Delhi
  • India has long been wary of China’s growing regional clout as both nations compete for influence in South Asia region
Updated 08 July 2025
AFP

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Protests in Bangladesh that toppled the government last year triggered a diplomatic pivot, with Dhaka warming toward China after neighboring India was angered by the ousting of its old ally Sheikh Hasina.

One year since the protests, that realignment risks intensifying polarization — and fears of external interference — as political parties in Bangladesh jostle for influence ahead of elections next year.

For the caretaker government, seeking domestic consensus for overhauling democratic institutions in the country of 170 million people, it is another challenge to juggle.

“India-Bangladesh relations have probably never experienced such intense strain before,” said New Delhi-based analyst Praveen Donthi, from the International Crisis Group.

There is deep resentment in Dhaka over the fate of fugitive ex-prime minister Hasina, who escaped a student-led uprising by helicopter in August 2024 and flew to New Delhi as thousands of protesters stormed her palace.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said popular anger in Muslim-majority Bangladesh had been “transferred over to India” because Hasina was offered sanctuary by New Delhi’s Hindu nationalist government.

Hasina, 77, has defied extradition orders to attend her crimes against humanity trial, and has already been convicted in absentia for contempt of court with a six-month sentence.

Md Touhid Hossain, who heads Bangladesh’s foreign ministry, said that “the relationship is now at the readjustment stage.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus’s first state visit was to China in March, a trip that saw him secure $2.1 billion in investments, loans and grants.

Beijing has also courted leading politicians directly.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — the expected election frontrunner — said China is “keen” to work with the next elected government with “sincerity, steadfastness, love, and affection.”

India has long been wary of China’s growing regional clout and the world’s two most populous countries compete for influence in South Asia, despite a recent diplomatic thaw.

Bangladesh has also moved closer to Pakistan, India’s arch-enemy.

In May, more than 70 people were killed in four days of missile, drone and artillery fire between the forces of New Delhi and Islamabad, sparked by a deadly militant attack on civilians in India-administered Kashmir.

The following month, officials from Dhaka and Islamabad met counterparts in China.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the trio had agreed to “cooperation programs” including in trade, industry, education and agriculture.

Obaidul Haque, who teaches international relations at the University of Dhaka, said talks with Beijing had “borne fruit,” including alternative health care after once popular medical tourism to India was restricted.

“For example, China designated three hospitals for Bangladeshi patients when India made access difficult,” he said.

Bangladesh and Pakistan — which split in 1971 after Dhaka’s independence war — began trade by sea last year, with direct flights also slated.

That sparked worry in New Delhi.

“The current Indian political leadership, owing to its ideological foundations... are unwilling to accept Dhaka under a government they perceive as Islamist and hostile toward India,” Donthi said.

“The visible engagement between Dhaka, Islamabad, and Beijing enhances this perception further.”

Both New Delhi and Bangladesh have imposed trade restrictions on each other.

India, which encircles much of Bangladesh by land, has imposed multiple trade restrictions — including tightening rules on Indian imports of jute fibers, ready-made garments, plastic products and food.

But trade between the neighboring nations remains high, said Md Humayun Kabir, a former Bangladeshi ambassador to Washington, who has also served in India.

But he urged caution, saying Dhaka should “tread carefully forming alliances,” and seek to strengthen “multilateral relations” as a balance.

“Cooperation still exists between the countries, but the warmth is gone,” he said.

Separately, Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter, has also been caught in the global shakeup caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, with Yunus in June telling US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of his “commitment to strengthening” ties.

But in terms of regional tensions, analysts say little will change soon — and warn they have the potential to escalate.

“Things might change only if New Delhi is satisfied with the electoral process and sees somebody amenable to it come to power in Dhaka,” the Crisis Group’s Donthi added.

“It is very unlikely that their position will change toward the current government in Dhaka,” he said.

“There may be attempts to undermine it rather than to collaborate.”

Topics: Pakistan Bangladesh Ties Bangladesh China Pakistan Shaikh Hasina Bangladesh Politics

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