Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman will reportedly visit Malaysia on June 21. It would be his first foreign trip. Why didn’t he choose India or China?
Tarique Rahman is reportedly set to embark on his first foreign visit since taking office in February. However, Rahman’s first overseas destination will be neither of Bangladesh’s key neighbours — India nor China. Instead, he is scheduled to visit Malaysia on June 21–22, before travelling to China from June 23 onward.
Earlier in May, Bangladeshi news outlets had reported that Tarique Rahman could visit China first. However, Dhaka appears to have moved carefully in choosing Kuala Lumpur as his first foreign destination, four months after coming to power in February.
Bangladeshi government sources told Prothom Alo that the BNP administration had “exercised particular caution in selecting the destination” for Rahman’s first overseas visit, “given the realities of regional geopolitics and the strategic competition between India and China”. “For that reason, choosing a third country rather than either New Delhi or Beijing gained prominence in government deliberations,” the report quoted sources as saying.
The decision to visit Malaysia first appears to reflect a deliberate strategy to ease into international diplomacy without immediately appearing too closely aligned with either India or China. Rahman, who assumed office in February 2026 following the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) election victory, is expected to use the Malaysia visit to address practical bilateral matters before heading to Beijing.
India made an early outreach to the new Bangladesh government by sending Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony in February 2026, where he delivered a letter from Narendra Modi inviting Rahman and his family to visit India. The move signalled New Delhi’s intent to reset ties after frictions during the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government and deepen cooperation with the BNP administration.
The decision points towards the new government’s “Bangladesh First” policy, marking a clear departure from the previous Awami League government’s approach of “Friendship to all, malice to none”.
By opting for Malaysia, which has a Muslim-majority population, the BNP government is seemingly aiming to project neutrality and avoid sending signals toward either India or China in its debut foreign engagement.
Initial internal considerations reportedly included visits to Bhutan or Saudi Arabia rather than immediately engaging New Delhi or Beijing, according to a report in Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo. The emphasis on Malaysia allows PM Rahman to focus on people-centric issues while buying time to shape broader foreign policy direction.
During the Malaysia visit, key agenda items are expected to include migrant welfare, education collaboration, and boosting trade and investment flows. Notably, there are over 8,00,000 Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, and the country currently hosts over 11,000 Bangladeshi students as well, the second-largest group after Chinese students, according to Dhaka-based daily The Business Standard.
The subsequent China leg, however, carries greater strategic weight and will be closely monitored.
Bangladesh imports goods worth approximately $25 billion annually from China, making it a major economic partner. Chinese investments in infrastructure projects had declined sharply following the fall of the Awami League government post-August 2024, and ensuing political instability.
Tarique Rahman’s visit might help restart discussions on funding and project implementation.
A report in Dhaka-based newspaper The Daily Star suggested that the Teesta River management project is also on the cards.
An official told The Daily Star that Bangladesh had sought Chinese support for the Teesta River management project during Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s visit to China.
The issue has also gathered public momentum in Bangladesh, with protests at Chittagong University in October last year, demanding immediate implementation of the Teesta Master Plan and Bangladesh’s “fair share” of Teesta waters.
Against this backdrop, Rahman’s China visit is especially significant.
It must also be noted that post Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, the United States exerted a noticeable influence on Bangladesh’s external affairs, exemplified by the US-Bangladesh trade agreement advanced during Muhammad Yunus’s interim tenure. This has added another layer of complexity to Dhaka’s ties with Beijing.
By starting with Malaysia, Dhaka has signalled at prioritising functional cooperation over immediate high-stakes geopolitics, while keeping the door open for deeper economic engagement with China.
The visits also come at a time when Bangladesh is seeking to stabilise its economy and rebuild international confidence after months of domestic political transition. Tarique Rahman’s Malaysia visit could set a positive tone to this venture.
