Minister: India remains Bangladesh's most important partner

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood has said, given the shared political, cultural, social, and economic history over centuries,  India remains Bangladesh's most important partner. He was addressing a seminar, Changing Global Dynamics: Bangladesh Foreign Policy, highlighting the evolving foreign policy of Bangladesh in the context of contemporary geopolitics at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) on Wednesday. He also said the issue of Rohingya influx remained as a complication in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar, but he has hope that there will be a new beginning through Rohingya repatriation. "With the repatriation of the Rohingya under the arrangement signed on November 23, 2017, we hope to have a new beginning with Myanmar," he said. State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and BIISS Chairman Ambassador Munshi Faiz also spoke at the program. As a natural bridge between South and Southeast Asia and beyond, he said Bangladesh will continue to pursue regional cooperation as an engine for sustainable growth and economic integration through Saarc, Bimstec, BBIN, SASEC, and BCIM. He said to secure economic benefits Bangladesh will continue to forge effective partnerships with other countries. "We have already developed such partnerships with India, China, Japan, the UK and the USA in recent years across mega infrastructure, power and energy sector projects, and so on," he said. Minister Ali said Bangladesh will continue to stretch its partnership in multiple fronts for realization of sustainable development goals. He said human rights and fundamental freedoms are the key to our existence. "After ending the culture of impunity through the trial of war criminals who committed genocide and crimes against humanity during our War of Liberation in 1971, we are now focusing on international recognition of the 1971 genocide." He said Bangladesh will continue to maintain a lead role in UN peacekeeping operations by contributing troops, police, including female peacekeepers. "We would also gradually bring more focus on peacebuilding activities," he added. "As we have done recently with the issue of Rohingyas, we will continue to utilize our image in the multilateral forum to further our national interest," Ali said. Over the past decade, he said, the Bangladesh foreign policy has taken multiple retours keeping the basic principles of engagement intact. "Beyond our deeper engagement with Western Europe, our outreach to Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America has been extended to explore new markets for our products and labour and thus to best ensure Bangladesh's economic security," he mentioned. In the coming days, Minister Ali said, they will continue to work together to fulfill the foreign policy vision and strategy under the normative guidelines of Vision 2021 and Vision 2041. "Drawing on our rich history and accomplishments, we will strive to demonstrate to the world why Bangladesh should matter. We all need to think innovative ways to accomplish that," the minister said. In the coming days, he said, Bangladesh will continue to pursue its peace-centric and sustainable development focused approach in the international forum. At the domestic front, the development agenda will continue to take priority which will be furthered by regional integration and connectivity, said the foreign minister. He mentioned that the relationship with European countries will cover economic ties, democratic values as well as partnership in the areas of protection of environment. "With our maritime boundaries settled, we will continue to develop partnership in the maritime field for realization of our ‘Blue Economy' pursuits," he said.