The feeling had already taken root, silent and complete, somewhere he could not reach to tear out. And already, deep in the grammar of a lifetime, he could feel the old instinct stirring: The wall beginning, stone by patient stone, to rebuild itself.
The exchange has never run one way. Bangladeshi karatekas train to standards set in Tokyo. Instructors who came as visitors, stayed close to the country for the rest of their careers. What began as instruction became friendship.
Dhaka has deepened military ties with Turkey while normalizing relations with Pakistan. This commitment towards strategic autonomy unsettles security planners in New Delhi, who view the accumulation of these moves as a potential erosion of Indian influence in the Bay of Bengal.