Domestic bases of foreign policy: The case of Bangladesh’s policy towards India

Abstract

Foreign policy is often regarded as an extension of domestic policy. Bangladesh's foreign policy, like that of any other state, is primarily a reflection of its socio- economic and political compulsions within international politics. Therefore, the task of tracing how such domestic factors influence foreign policy poses a significant theoretical challenge. To date, the majority of studies on Bangladesh-India relations have been descriptive, chronological, and devoid of any fresh insights. Furthermore, little systematic effort has been made to study the domestic factors in Bangladesh and their implications for India-Bangladesh relations. The present paper, therefore, constitutes a modest attempt to fill this gap. The focus of this paper is not on providing a complete framework for researching domestic compulsions within Bangladesh foreign policy, but to uncover appropriate explanatory propositions for understanding the domestic roots of Bangladesh's foreign policy with regards to India. The findings of this paper highlight how Bangladesh's foreign policy has often become a device for enhancing the sectional and group interests within the domestic political and factional infighting. Various regimes in Bangladesh have not only used different internal factors to promote their own sustenance and survival but have also internal factors like external relations. Unsurprisingly, successive regimes in Bangladesh have willingly induced a dependency relationship to remain in power or deny power to their political opponents.