From Neglect to Revival: Making Sense of Russia’s Outreach to Bangladesh

Introduction Nearly two years into its war in Ukraine, Russia, isolated from the West and reoriented to the East, is searching for new partnerships in South Asia. With a primary focus on India, a strategic destination for Russian arms and energy resources, Russia’s presence in the region is still limited. As such, Russia has renewed its push for closer partnerships in India’s immediate neighbourhood, particularly with Bangladesh. Ties between Russia and Bangladesh have largely been pegged on the memory of the Soviet Union’s support to Bangladesh during its Liberation War in 1971, [a] with Moscow among the first to recognise the newly independent state. The affinity between the Soviet leadership and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman [b] spurred close political, economic, and cultural ties. The Soviet Union aided Bangladesh in its formative years in different ways, from the minesweeping operation in the Chittagong port conducted by the Soviet Navy between 1972 and 1974 to providing financial and technical support for the construction and renovation of power plants in Ghorasal and Siddhirganj. [1]