Bangladesh-Muslim World Relations

One of the most significant factors of Bangladesh foreign policy is its close relation with the Muslim countries. Geographically Bangladesh belongs to South Asia and the Bengalees are not culturally as close to the Arabs, Persians or Turks as the Pakistanis or North Indians are.

Some Muslim states even took this movement as an act of ruining the Islamic fraternity. The Indo-Pakistan war, starting in December 3 and the surrender of the Pakistani army to the joint command of the Indian and Bangladeshi army, both has fuelled this suspicion. After independence, the Mujib government immediately proclaimed itself as a secular and socialist country, which increased the suspicion further. After gaining independence, there was no recognition from any Muslim country for Bangladesh. The existence of Indian army in Bangladesh soil till March, 1972 has created a suspicion about the sovereignty of the newly independent country.

Pakistan government's threat to cut off diplomatic relations with the countries co-operating with Bangladesh also acted as an important factor. The government of Pakistan withdrawed itself from the Commonwealth when Bangladesh was admitted into the organization. Some states which had soft corners for Bangladesh, could not express their support due to the hazy circumstances. Cairo and Beirut can be mentioned here as the perfect examples of those. However, with the departure of the Indian army and gradual working of the Bangladesh government, the situation began to improve.

Malaysia and Indonesia recognized Bangladesh in March, 1972. Both of the countries supported in Bangladesh's application of membership in the United Nations. Afghanistan also spoke in favor of Bangladesh in this debate; it recognized Bangladesh...

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...ns of the constitution took place. ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim’ was included in the pre-amble of the constitution by a proclamation in 1978. Secularism, one of the state principles was also dropped in the same proclamation. Article 12 was also deleted, which prohibited patronage of any kind of state religion.

The new leadership did all of this specially for two reasons- to satisfy the countrymen who were reluctant to Mujib government for its ‘secular stance resulted in the rise of Islamic sentiments among them’ and to grab the much needed financial aid from the Arab countries to finance its ambitious economic programs. In this phase, the relations of Bangladesh with the Muslim countries was very cordial. Bangladesh was benefited both economically and politically. The process of developing relations with the Muslim countries reached its culmination in this stage.