Bangladesh Votes, and World May Have a New 'Proxy War'

Bangladesh on Thursday conducted its first national election since mass student protests toppled longtime leader Sheikh Hasina. Those 2024 protests have been widely described as a Gen Z uprising, and Thursday's parliamentary elections are seen as a big test of whether the nation can return to a more democratic footing, reports the AP. The stakes go beyond Bangladesh: The US, China, and India have been scrambling to expand—or, in India's case, sustain—their influence in the nation. Coverage:

• Former PM: More than 2,000 candidates were competing for parliament, but none from Hasina's Awami League, which has since been banned following the 2024 uprising that the UN says left as many as 1,400 protesters dead, per the BBC. Hasina is accused of ordering a violent clampdown, a charge she rejects. She is now living in exile in India.

• The vote: The main contest pits the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party against a coalition led by Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, which is allied with a group formed out of the protest movement. Voters also weighed in on a referendum on constitutional changes backed by the interim government, which says the country's political system is "completely broken." Results are expected Friday.
• Shifting alliances: India's influence on Bangladesh appears to be on the wane, and China's is increasing, according to Semafor, citing a report at Chatham House. And the US, worried about China's growing sway, is reaching out to Dhaka to offer weapons systems, reports Reuters. Washington also signed a new trade deal this week to lower tariffs, a move seen as trying to undercut Chinese trade.
• Proxy war? All of which has the Indian outlet The Week suggesting that Bangladesh is the site of a "new proxy war" between the US and China. The latter is currently the largest supplier of industrial raw products, but the new trade deal risks alienating Beijing.