As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Australia needs to broaden its engagement in South Asia.

For at least a decade, Australia has rightly concentrated on its partnership with India, but it is now time to broaden that strategy to include other countries in that region.

Bangladesh should be an important part of that new focus. With its thriving economy and a population of more than 160 million, it has the potential to become the next ‘Asian tiger’.

In the College’s latest Policy Options Paper, New Indo-Pacific Partnership: Building Australia-Bangladesh Security Ties, Dr David Brewster outlines why Australia should develop its defence and security relationship with Bangladesh, and what steps it should take.