Sawt Falasteen - China's Xi vows deeper cooperation in meeting with Bangladesh leader

Yunus took charge of Bangladesh last August after the toppling of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a student-led uprising.

India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina's government, and her ouster sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit to China -- India's biggest Asian rival.

Xi told Yunus on Friday that Beijing was "willing to work with Bangladesh to push bilateral cooperation to a new level," Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

"China... insists on remaining a good neighbour, good friend and good partner to Bangladesh, based on mutual trust," Xi said, according to CCTV.

The Chinese leader reportedly said Beijing and Dhaka should "firmly support each other" on core interests and backed Bangladesh on issues including safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

He added that the two countries would explore cooperation in infrastructure construction, water conservancy and the digital, marine and environmental sectors.

Dhaka said this week that Yunus's China visit showed that Bangladesh was "sending a message".

The 84-year-old Nobel laureate is expected to return home on Saturday after holding several other high-level meetings in the Chinese capital.

Several agreements are expected to be signed on economic and technical assistance, cultural and sports cooperation, and media collaboration between the two countries, according to the Bangladeshi administration.

Talks are also expected to touch on Bangladesh's immense population of Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a violent military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017.

China has acted as a mediator between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the past to broker the repatriation of the persecuted minority, although efforts stalled because of Myanmar's unwillingness to have them returned.

- India tensions -

Senior figures in the Indian and Bangladeshi governments have traded barbs ahead of Yunus's sojourn to Beijing.

Those tensions have almost fully halted travel by Bangladeshis to India for medical tourism, thousands of whom crossed the border each year to seek care in their larger neighbour.

Dhaka's top foreign ministry bureaucrat said this week that talks in Beijing would touch on the establishment of a Chinese "Friendship Hospital" in Bangladesh.

Yunus's caretaker administration has the unenviable task of instilling democratic reforms ahead of new elections expected by mid-2026.

It has requested -- so far unsuccessfully -- that India allow Hasina's extradition to face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government.

Yunus has also sought a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bid to reset relations, with both expected to be at the same regional summit in Bangkok next month.

His government has yet to receive a response, with Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar saying the request was "under review".

P.Tamimi--SF-PST