Beijing, Jan 9 (PTI) China on Tuesday congratulated the ruling Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League party in Bangladesh for winning the general elections, saying it wants to strengthen the bilateral partnership with Dhaka and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reacting to a question from the official media about Awami League’s “landslide victory,” spoke about Beijing’s relations with Dhaka, especially its infrastructure projects, but any reference to Prime Minister Hasina was conspicuously absent from Mao’s remarks on Bangladesh polls.
Hasina’s Awami League won a landslide victory in Sunday’s Parliamentary elections that were boycotted by the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the major opposition party.
“China congratulates Bangladesh on holding a smooth general election as scheduled and we congratulate the Awami League on winning the election,” Mao Ning said.
“As a friend and neighbour, China firmly supports Bangladesh in advancing its post-election political agenda in accordance with the law”, she said.
“China stands ready to work with the new Bangladesh government on the basis of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs to carry forward our traditional friendship, deepen high-quality BRI cooperation and strive for new progress in China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation,” Mao said.
Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of Chinese investments.
During President Xi Jinping's visit to Dhaka in 2016, China committed to providing USD 40 billion for various investment projects under which Bangladesh will receive USD 26 billion for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects and USD 14 billion for joint venture projects.
BRI is an ambitious programme for raising China-funded infrastructure across multiple countries aimed at boosting China's economic and diplomatic clout.
The rapid expansion of Chinese investments in Bangladesh was regarded as the second highest by Beijing after the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Observers say Prime Minister Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, maintained close ties with India and China and made effective use of investments from both countries to develop road and industrial infrastructure in the country.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)