Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations: Problems and Prospects

The research work seeks to explore the significance and dynamics of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Bangladesh and Myanmar are two geographically adjacent third world developing countries in South and Southeast Asia. As the two states are neighboring countries, sharing land and sea borders, the scene of walking together is seen. Being neighbors of Bangladesh and Myanmar, there is a need for strong bilateral relations between the two states from the perspective of geo-strategic, economic and national security. But since Myanmar’s political system, political ideology and political culture are different, both states have failed to establish meaningful relations due to lack of political will, mutual trust and mutual trust. The research work is therefore a relevant attempt to identify challenges and opportunities in the development and dynamics of Bangladesh-Myanmar relations. The research work is based on secondary sources of qualitative nature which follows descriptive and interpretive method. The research work showed that the Rohingya refugee crisis, maritime boundary disputes, border tensions, illegal immigration and trade, drug and arms smuggling, China and India’s energy quest in Myanmar have acted as major challenges in the development of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The research work analyzes the challenges as well as identifies some possibilities for the development of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar such as: cooperation in regional forums, trade and business promotion, maritime trade, investment in Myanmar, cooperation in human resource promotion, etc. The research work also provides recommendations for increasing the dynamics of bilateral relations between the two states.