Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

The paper intends to explore the dynamics of contemporary bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Both the countries are close neighbors sharing land and maritime borders. They have also historical, commercial and cultural ties. From both geostrategic and economic point of view, the countries bear the necessity of strong bilateral relations. But both the countries have failed to set up meaningful relationship due to lack of Myanmar government's political will, mutual trust and confidence of the countries. From this perspective, the paper is an attempt to identify challenges and opportunities to the way of developing Bangladesh-Myanmar relations. The study is qualitative in nature based on secondary data which follows descriptive and interpretative methods. The study finds that the Rohingya refugee issue, border tension and transnational crimes are the major challenges to the way of developing bilateral relations. Along with the analysis of challenges the paper also identifies some areas of prospects to develop the bilateral relation of the countries.