Since sweeping into office through the general election of 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the last three years has succeeded in winning over her government's international detractors and raising Bangladesh's profile as a country committed to fighting terrorism.

Through successful diplomatic maneuvering, she has charmed the US and European nations into accepting the outcome of the largely one-sided election besides consolidating the friendly relations with India, the only country that openly backed her in going ahead with the controversial polls.

China and Japan, vying to increase their influence in the region, came rushing with offers of billions of dollars in investment for Bangladesh's economic development.

At a time when rivalry between China and India causes regional tension, Bangladesh has proved to be a sought-after destination for economic cooperation and investment by the two emerging superpowers.

Bangladesh has deftly used its geo-strategic and geo-political advantage and maintained a delicate balance with the region's big powers gathering boons for its security and economic advancement.

Foreign policy has so far remained one of the most visible dimensions of Hasina's government. The government has been successful in leaving its unique imprint, making clear its objective of positioning Bangladesh as an important global partner and regional player.

In the just-closed year, the PM's foreign policy received a shot in the arm as Bangladesh excelled in exploiting its geo-political importance in South Asia and Indian Ocean regions and has been able to keep the major powers happy.

The first three years were dominated by the PM's powerful personality. Her international visits had been the most visible manifestation of the government's foreign policy which brought the country closer to most of its neighbours and raised the nation's profile around the world. 

Global powers China, India, Japan, Russia, the US and some other countries showed growing interest in Bangladesh to have deeper engagements.

Bangladesh remained vibrant through its strong presence in global forums. It made good maneuvering in dealing with China and India, the two regional rivals. Dhaka sought and received economic assistance from Beijing, especially in its infrastructure sector.

At the same time, Bangladesh has strengthened its traditional close relations with India through increased connectivity and growing cooperation in tackling terrorism that has hit both the countries. If it has been an act of balancing, Hasina has played it so well.

New Delhi has found Hasina on its side on key issues like fighting terrorism, peace and economic development in the region. Dhaka joined New Delhi in the boycott of last year's Islamabad Saarc Summit, the South Asian regional grouping, following the September 18 terrorist attack in Uri of Kashmir, an attack New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Bangladesh, however, said it pulled out of the summit to protest Islamabad's brazen interference in the trial of the war criminals of 1971.

Bangladesh's relations with the US have also improved significantly. Visiting Dhaka on August 29 last year, US Secretary of State John Kerry praised Bangladesh's impressive economic development and its determined fight against terrorism. Kerry also visited Bangabandhu Memorial Museum when he strongly praised the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hasina played host during this period to several top world leaders, including those from India, China and Japan. She also joined Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Mongolia, BRICS and BIMSTEC Outreach Summit in India and G7 Outreach meeting in Japan.

The landmark visits of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar apart from dozens of high-level incoming visits clearly showed the growing importance of Bangladesh among global players and also propelled the country into a new limelight.

Parrikar's visit to Bangladesh was the first ever by an Indian defence minister. During his talks with Hasina and other government officials, Parrikar reportedly discussed finalisation of “a new defence cooperation framework” with Bangladesh. The agreement is likely to be signed during Hasina's visit to India expected next month.

The premier also received awards for her outstanding contributions in vital areas including climate change. She was one of the winners of the UN's highest environmental accolade, in recognition of Bangladesh's far-reaching initiatives to address climate change. She got the Champions of the Earth award in the Policy Leadership category in 2015. International telecommunication Union honoured the PM with Sustainable Development Award.

One of the biggest success stories of Bangladesh's foreign policy in the past three years has been the pace at which Dhaka-New Delhi, Dhaka-Beijing, Dhaka-Washington, Dhaka-Moscow, Dhaka-Tokyo, Dhaka-Riyadh relations improved and more importantly, deepened. Settlement of the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement with India had been a great diplomatic success for her.

In the area of defence and security, Dhaka decided to move ahead with the major countries in Asia and beyond. Bangladesh is now undertaking military exercises with like-minded states like India, China and the US.

Adding of two submarines to the Navy fleet is a remarkable achievement of the government's defence diplomacy. Improving security ties with superpowers and major countries was another bold step of Hasina's government. The PM successfully proved her “zero tolerance policy” in fighting violent extremism and terrorism.  

Although the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in the capital's Gulshan on July 1 last year shocked the entire world, the government got the international community beside it in addressing the new challenge.

In spite of all these achievements, Hasina's government has had a couple of challenges unresolved. In regards to India, the PM faces criticisms that under her stewardship Dhaka conceded more to New Delhi than it received in return. Critics refer to the unresolved issue of reaching a deal with India on a fair sharing of Teesta River waters to back their theory.

With no breakthrough in Teesta stand-off, the issue is said to have contributed to a delay in Hasina's first visit to India since PM Modi came to power in 2014.

It is apparently clear that traditional diplomacy of Bangladesh for now has failed to ensure that India inks the deal.

Besides, killing in the border by the Indian Border Security Force still remains a major concern and irritant of Bangladesh despite India's repeated assurance from the highest level to bring down the killing of innocent Bangladesh citizens to zero.

There is also apparently another failure in labourt market front as the number of returnees have increased, which caused the drastic fall in remittance. The GSP issue with the US has been shelved and there is no immediate chance of restoring the trade benefit.

Bangladesh's involvement with the Saudi-led anti-terror alliance also remained unclear. Many raised eyebrows after Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali confirmed Bangladesh would join the forum. The Islamic Military Alliance of 34 countries was floated in mid-December 2015 at the initiative of Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, also the defence minister, to fight terrorism. To some, it was a deviation from Bangladesh's declared policy of not joining any military alliance outside the UN mandate.

The recent influx of Rohingya Muslims to escape a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military has brought Bangladesh face to face with a new challenge with Dhaka trying to build its way out of the problem amid pressure from some international human rights groups to open its borders for the Rohingyas.

Despite repeated efforts to find out a longstanding solution to the Rohingya crisis, the Myanmar government is still cold-shouldering with Bangladesh. The government could not mobilise adequate international pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya issue.

Nevertheless, there was disappointment in hosting the 9th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). The ministerial meeting has always been chaired by foreign ministers, but in Dhaka the foreign secretary chaired it. As a result, there were no such high level participations from countries across the world.