Should Bangladesh join the US-led IPEF?
In October 2021, Joe Biden announced the US plan to launch a new economic bloc in the Indo-pacific region. Later, on May 23, 2022, the United States along with 12 other countries from the Asia Pacific region, officially unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Initial participants in the framework include Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, Brunei, New Zealand and Singapore. After the Trump administration's woeful withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017, the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS)- the geostrategic bedrock of US containment policy against China- was struggling. Moreover, from the very beginning of his presidency, Biden's global diplomatic endeavour has been characterised by the 'diplomacy without due commitment' to economic resources. To address the missing economic link to its broader strategic set-up and seemingly to refurbish his diplomatic profile, the US president has kicked off the economic framework christened as Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). While stating Bangladesh's strategic orientation to and probable future posture in Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said, "We're sure that we'll be effectively engaged in any future 'Indo-Pacific Alliance' if it is found to be purely economic in nature." For Bangladesh, before delving deep into this question, it is worth contemplating some underlying questions concerning the very aspects of IPEF: is the IPEF economic in nature, and if so, how much? Or is it just another US geopolitical avenue under an economic fig leaf in its strategic rivalry with China? And if so, how strategically viable is it for Bangladesh to be embroiled in such a power struggle?
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