Bangladesh, the new star in South Asia

Bangladesh has an unusual history. Bangladesh is located in South Asia and borders Myanmar in the southeast, but otherwise only borders with India. In the west, north and east the big neighbor watches. Nevertheless, Bangladesh was formerly called East Pakistan - although the namesake is still a good 2200 kilometers or three hours by plane away. That is why Bangladesh has become independent twice. Once in 1947 as part of the new Pakistan. At that time the occupying power, the United Kingdom, had left the southern continent. And then again in 1971, when the Bangladeshis made it clear in a war of independence that they did not want to be East Pakistan. But the path of the young country has always been mapped out: "In the 1970s, many observers said that the country would remain a permanent problem. Bangladesh is too poor and will never develop," summarizes Christian Wagner from the Science Foundation Politics summarized the opinion of the time. "There was also a very derogatory remark from Mr. Kissinger about the future development of the country, which was not very positive." Mr. Wagner is referring to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In 1971, shortly after the country gained independence, he and other US diplomats stamped Bangladesh as a "basket case". As an "eternal problem" who will never manage to get his finances in order; who will always have to be helped to feed his population. But Kissinger and his experts were wrong. The young country used globalization to break out of poverty. Among other things, the finance portal "Bloomberg" considers the young nation of 160 million people to be the new star in South Asia. A description that South Asia expert Wagner also finds appropriate. In May, the government of Bangladesh presented the latest economic figures. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by nine percent last year despite the corona crisis, making it $ 2,227 per capita. Very, very little if you compare the total with Germany. Before the pandemic, German GDP was just under $ 46,500 per capita. But if you compare Bangladesh with the other countries in the region, the picture looks completely different. Pakistan's GDP per capita is just over $ 1,500 - although the country was 70 percent richer than Bangladesh after the split in 1971, although Pakistan received a lot of money from abroad. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 alone, the US has transferred more than $ 33 billion in military and development aid to Islamabad to date. Nevertheless, according to "Bloomberg", the former East Pakistan is now 45 percent wealthier than its brother in the west. The Pakistani military has hampered development.