Before Bangabandhu's return to Dhaka on 10 January 1972, only India and Bhutan had recognised Bangladesh in December 1971. On his return, country after country accorded recognition to Dhaka. Only those countries that suffered strategic defeat along with Pakistan in the Liberation War remained out of the race. Erstwhile foes are now friends of Bangladesh, one even turned to be 'trusted.' It only proves that in interstate relations, there is no permanent friend or foe, the only permanent thing is the national interest. East Pakistan was used as a strategic point by Pakistan and China in their bid to contain India with whom both had a number of issues to settle. China challenged material, political and diplomatic support of India behind Bangladesh Liberation by extending similar support to Pakistan to ensure its national interest. The United States wanted to befriend China against rival Moscow and exploited its strategic alliance with Pakistan to open a window to China. Pakistan became a conduit between Washington and Beijing. Henry Kissinger made his secret journey from Islamabad to Beijing in 1971. National interests of China and the United States converged to keep Pakistan united over the self-determination of the East Pakistanis in 1971. But the claim of Ambassador Rezaul Karim that China's delayed recognition resulted "from complete misunderstanding about the very raison d'etre of Bangladesh" [Independence Day Special, The Daily Star, 26 March] and "Out of ignorance of China of Bangladesh Liberation War" [Prothom Alo, 24 March] is not credible. Nobody would ever thought that Mao Tse Dong and Zhu En Li were among the ignorant people on earth. Ambassador Karim further wrote that Saudi Arabia delayed recognition because " the Saudi Monarch gave in to Pakistani propaganda that Bangladesh was born due to the machinations of a Hindu India determined to divide and weaken the largest Muslim state in the world." The fact was Saudis wished Bangladesh to drop 'secularism' from the constitution and King Faisal during the Non-Aligned summit in Algiers in 1973 wanted Bangabandhu to declare Bangladesh an Islamic Republic. Bangabandhu replied that Pakistan was an Islamic Republic yet its soldiers carried out genocide and raped thousands of women in Bangladesh. The meeting ended abruptly.The Saudi recognition came after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975.
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