Bangladesh High Commission, London
Text of Speech:
Chairman of the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council (CFCC), Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Very good evening to you all-
It's my pleasure and honour to be here today. I am honoured to have the opportunity to say something on Bangladesh Foreign Policy. I would like to extend my profound thanks and appreciation to the distinguished patrons to invite me to such a gala event.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Bangladesh Foreign Policy Guideline in its National Constitution:
Bangladesh was born as an Independent Country on 16 December 1971 after a nine-month War of Independence starting on 26 March 1971 under the unparallel leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Afterwards under his able and dynamic leadership Bangladesh got a well-crafted National Constitution on 16 December 1972. Westminster style parliamentary system of democracy is one of the main features of Bangladesh Constitution. The Foreign Policy of Bangladesh emanates from the following principle or provisions or guidelines as enshrined in the Bangladesh Constitution:
1. The State shall base its international relations on the principles of respect for national sovereignty and equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, peaceful settlements of international disputes, and respect for international law and the principles enunciated in the United Nations Charter, and on the basis of those principles shall-
a) Strive for the renunciation of the use of force in international relations and for general and complete disarmament;
b) Uphold the right of every people freely to determine and build up its own social, economic and political system by ways and means of its own free choice; and
c) Support oppressed peoples throughout the world waging a just struggle against imperialism colonialism or racialism.
2. The State shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The present government also follow the motto in foreign policy: "Friendship to all, Malice to None". I shall depict here some aspects of Bangladesh relations including bilateral, regional, multilateral, public diplomacy in general with Bangladesh-UK relations in particular.
Image Building
The present government was able to dispel the negative image of Bangladesh and to raise its profile at the international level as a progressive, secular, democratic country defending human rights and promoting good governance. The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, China, India and other countries expressed their satisfaction over political developments in Bangladesh and its impressive performance in the socio-economic field. The United Nations and other international organizations including the Commonwealth also appreciated the government’s initiatives for the restoration of democracy and strengthening of democratic institutions.
Global Recognition of Bangladesh Achievements
On behalf of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received the "Millennium Development Goal Award" for its remarkable achievements in attaining the MDGs, particularly MDG-4 on reducing child mortality rate in 2010 during the 65th session of UNGA in New York. Again in 2011 Sheikh Hasina was awarded the Global South-South Award 2011 on ‘Digital development for Digital Health’ during the 66th UNGA for her exceptional leadership performance in improving the health sector outreach of her country through ICT. She was awarded the “Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2009” by the Government of India in January, 2010. On 26 January 2011, the Speaker of the House of Commons conferred the ‘Global Diversity Award’ on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her visionary leadership in reviving democracy, for establishing good governance, promoting human rights and regional peace, and in raising awareness to face the challenges posed by climate change. Dauphine University, Paris awarded a gold medal and a diploma to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 25 May 2011 for her exceptional contribution towards institutionalising democracy and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. One of the most significant foreign policy initiatives of the present government has been to resolve the long-standing maritime boundary dispute with our neighbor Myanmar through arbitration at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). This was a remarkable achievement for Bangladesh gaining over 1,11,000 sq kilometers in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is expecting the same result with India in 2014 at The Hague.
Diplomatic leadership and recognition: Multilateral
During 2009-2012 Bangladesh has been widely hailed for its constructive and leadership role as an elected State in 35 UN specialised agencies and bodies including at the UN Peace Building Commission, the Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPs, the UNICEF, UNESCO, UN Women, UN Population Fund, CEDAW, Commission of Social Development, International Telecommunication Union, International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and many others. Bangladesh has highest number of troops and police personnel to the UN peace-keeping missions and are deployed in 11 ongoing UN peace-keeping missions. During this period Bangladesh has also actively pursued peace diplomacy beyond peace-keeping through its leadership as NAM Coordinator at the UN, Peace-building Commission, Advisory Body for the Peace-Building Fund and at the Department of Peace Keeping Operation (DPKO), which is a distinctive achievement in the country’s foreign policy priorities.
Bangladesh has been widely acknowledged for its leadership role among the LDCs as the LDC Coordinator at all UN fora in 2009 and at the WTO negotiations in Geneva during 2011. Its successful negotiation at the WTO in securing the services waiver for LDCs for all non-LDC markets was the highlight of the period. Beyond that Bangladesh today has also emerged as the leading voice among countries most vulnerable to climate change and assumed the Chairmanship of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented a “People’s Empowerment” model at the 66th session of the UNGA that reaffirms that all people should be treated equally and emphasizes the enhancement of human capabilities for people’s true empowerment. The model was adopted as a resolution at the 2nd committee of the General Assembly on 23rd November 2011 and was finally adopted by the UNGA on 22 December, 2011 unanimously.
During his visit to Bangladesh from in November 2011, UN Secretary General Ban KI Moon praised Bangladesh as a “Role Model” member state in leading the UN peace-keeping, its MDGs achievements, for presenting innovative development solutions to the world and digitalization for eradication of poverty. Again, German President Christian Wulff termed Bangladesh as a “stabilizing factor” of the South Asian countries when he paid an official visit to Bangladesh from 28-30 November 2011.
Bilateral Diplomacy
Present Government has been striving hard to transform the visionary policy of the government for building closer and stronger relationship with the neighbours in South Asia. With India, a number of long pending issues have been resolved, including the demarcation of the land boundary and related issues of exchange of enclaves. With Sri Lanka initiatives have been taken to further strengthen and deepen the relationship and as many as eight Agreements/MoUs were signed during the visit of President Rajapaksa to Bangaldesh in May 2011. Similar initiatives are also being taken to further enhance relationship with the Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Bangladesh has excellent bilateral relations with Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Indonesia in December 2011 to attend the Bali Democracy Forum-1V. She also held fruitful bilateral talks with the Indonesian President. Again, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to Myanmar in December 2011 with a view to infusing new dynamism in bilateral relations. After the visit Myanmar has agreed to take back all refugees cleared by them. In pursuit of her Far East policy Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited China, Japan and South Korea in 2010. Later, during the visit of the Chinese Vice-President in June 2010, an agreement for technical assistance was signed. During Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Japan in November 2010, the two Prime Ministers signed a Joint Statement. Japan pledged US$515 million to construct the Padma Bridge.
With USA and European countries, cooperation in trade, investment, security and eradication of terrorism has expanded. Both Bangladesh and the US cherish common values and ethos of democracy, Rule of Law, and human rights. Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, MP paid an official visit to the USA in 2009 and met with the Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who later visited Bangladesh in April 2012. Secretary Clinton appreciated the role of Bangladesh on a range of regional and global issues, including efforts to combat violent extremism and to provide peacekeeping forces in trouble spots around the world. Again, Canada remains a close development partner of Bangladesh. The Foreign Minister visited Canada in February 2011. The European Union remains the largest destination of Bangladesh’s exports. Europe has also emerged as the largest source of development assistance for Bangladesh. Bangladesh-Russian cooperation has reached new heights with the signing of a landmark agreement to undertake construction of the nuclear power plant (2x1000 MW) in Bangladesh with the Russian assistance. Bangladesh engages with eastern European countries (e.g. Ukraine, Belarus, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria) for mutually beneficial, multifarious collaboration with them.
Relations with Gulf countries of the Muslim Ummah were deepened and widened manifolds specially focussing on strengthening trade and economic ties. Both the President and Prime Minister of Bangladesh have visited Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Besides, Prime Minister also visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. As a result, relations with those countries reached a new height while activities in trade and investment cooperation got a new boost and there has been significant growth of manpower export to those countries.
Regional Diplomacy
The government has taken pragmatic steps to expand cooperation with regional organizations. As a result of this initiative, Bangladesh is active in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC); Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC); Developing-8 (D-8), Indian Ocean Rim-Association of Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) etc. Bangladesh is actively involved with the Southeast Asian security dialogue as a member of ARF. The decision to set up the permanent Secretariat of BIMSTEC in Dhaka was taken at the 13th Ministerial meeting held in January 2011 in Myanmar. This is a major diplomatic success for Bangladesh. Bangladesh piloted the concept of “SAARC Charter of Democracy” at the 16th SAARC Summit held in Thimpu, which was accepted unanimously.
Sub-regional initiatives: Bangladesh has taken some sub-regional initiatives during 2009-2011. The following are especially noteworthy: (i) Hydro-power generation with the participation of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan and Nepal and (ii) Basin-wide water management initiative has been taken to adopt an integrated plan for sharing water of common rivers with the participation of India, Nepal and China, which could also help solve the shortage of water and issue of flooding in all countries in the region.
Multilateral diplomacy
Bangladesh has been much more engaged and played visible role in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Commonwealth, Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) etc during the recent years.
A number of high-level UN personalities visited Bangladesh including UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. The Prime Minister took part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) in Port of Spain and Perth in 2009 and 2011. Bangladesh is an active member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG).
Public Diplomacy
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively pursued public diplomacy during the last three years, especially through the Bangladesh Missions abroad with a view to enhancing Bangladesh’s image and showcasing its national and cultural heritage. As part of this, the Ministry organized “Visit Bangladesh programme” for the foreign journalists, and for the Honorary Consuls of Bangladesh. This has helped familiarize them with the country’s prospects and potentials. Dhaka successfully hosted the ICC World Cup matches in 2011 and the SAF Games in 2010.
Economic Diplomacy
The government has been steadfast in pursing diplomacy to strengthen Bangladesh’s core economic interests. In spite of the adverse impacts of multiple crises and climate change, Bangladesh's growth has been 6.7% during 2010-2011 and is expected to be around 7% during 2011-2012. Bangladesh has put in place a very liberal and attractive investment regime. All efforts are being made to develop strong regional connectivity with roads, railways and waterways with the view to taking advantage of the unique strategic location between South and South East Asia and closeness to China and to becoming the economic hub of the region.
Diplomatic efforts of Bangladesh on trade have been reasonably successful as we have been able to secure duty-free and quota-free market access in almost all developed country markets. As a result, Bangladesh has been able to secure steady growth in exports.
Bangladesh has adopted and is implementing FDI policies to offer most friendly fiscal and financial incentives with stable regulatory framework. Investors are invited to invest in infrastructures, energy, transport connectivity, textiles, shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, leather products, light engineering, telecommunications and ICT sectors. Nine special economic zones are under the process of completion.
Climate change is impacting Bangladesh severely. Bangladesh needs funds for adaptation, technology for mitigation and transformation to low–carbon development path.
Bangladesh-UK Bilateral Relations
Political:
Bangladesh and the UK have historical and traditional friendly ties since our Independence in 1971. When the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from the captivity in Pakistan, he visited London on his way back to Independent Bangladesh and during his visit the then British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath warmly welcomed the Bangladesh Leader as a British state guest in January 1972. The UK was among the first of the European countries to recognise Bangladesh on 04 February 1972, which influenced quick recognition by other Commonwealth and Western countries. Bangladesh also became a member of the Commonwealth on 18 April 1972 with the support of the UK. Again, when Father of the Nation was implicated in Agartala Conspiracy Case in 1969, British Lawyer Mr. Thomas William QC, good friend of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu, fought for him in the court for his acquittal and release.
Many British leaders, media people and other supported Bangladesh during its War of Liberation in 1971. In recognition of their outstanding contributions, the Present Government of Bangladesh has recently honoured some of them including Sir Edward Heath, Mr. Harold Wilson, Sir Mark Tully, Lord Peter Shore, and Mr. George Harrison.
Politically, Bangladesh has been maintaining excellent bilateral relations with the United Kingdom. The two countries work closely in various international forums like the UN, the Commonwealth as well as important conferences on issues like democracy, human rights, good governance, rule of law, LDC issue, and UN peace keeping etc.
Exchange of visits between Bangladesh and the UK
Political level visits reflect closeness of ties and its international cooperation. A considerable number of high level political visits have been exchanged between Bangladesh and the UK in the recent years.
Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to the United Kingdom on 26-30 January 2011. During the visit Prime Minister had bilateral talks with the British Prime Minister Rt. Hon David Cameron MP on 27 January 2011. The Speaker of House of Commons the Rt. Hon John Bercow MP, former British Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown MP, the Deputy British Prime Minister Mr. Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament Mr. Ed Milliband MP, Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Mr. William Hague MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Mr. Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Home Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities Ms. Theresa May MP, Minister of State for International Development (DFID) Mr. Alan Duncan MP, and Cabinet Minister and the Chairman of the Conservative Party Ms. Baroness Warsi called on the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Prime Minister also delivered a keynote speech at a Seminar on ‘‘Portrait of a Peace Thinker and Peace Builder’’ at the prestigious Oxford Union during the visit.
During 2009 Hon'ble Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament, Foreign Minister, Commerce Minister, Chief Whip, and Social Welfare Minister visited UK on different official engagements. Hon'ble President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh visited the UK in June 2010. During 2011 Hon’ble Speaker; Chief Justice; Finance Minister; Law Minister; Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Shipping; Minister for Health and Family Welfare paid official visits to the UK.
On the other hand, during 2009-2011, British ministers or dignitaries visited Bangladesh include: Mr. Mike Foster, DFID Minister; Lord West, Home Office Minister; Mr. Ed Milliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Environment; Mr. Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for DFID; Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick MP, UK Minister for Environment; Mr. Alan Duncan, UK Minister of State for International Development; and the former British Prime Minister Rt. Hon Tony Blair; Her Royal Highness Princess Anne; Rt. Hon Andrew Mitchele MP, Secretary of State for International Development; Rt Hon Alan Duncan MP, DIFD Minister; Baroness Sayeeda Warsi MP, Cabinet Minister and Chairman of the Conservative Party; Mr. Stephen O’Brien MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development; Ms. Anne Main MP, Chair of APPG and Ms. Rushnara Ali MP.
Bangladesh-UK Economic Relations
The UK is the third largest destination of Bangladeshi products. The UK is also one of the top sources of Foreign Direct Investment for Bangladesh. At present, UK is the 5th largest source of remittance of Bangladesh. The UK is the single largest bilateral development partner of Bangladesh. It is worthwhile to note that despite the global financial meltdown and worldwide reduction in aid flow, the UK development assistance to Bangladesh has increased significantly.
Bangladesh Community in the UK:
About half a million British Bangladeshis occupy an important place in the evolving greater Bangladesh-British relations. The Bangladeshi communities in Britain contribute significantly to both the British and Bangladesh economy. Bangladeshi community own some 12,000 Bangladesh restaurants in UK that employ about 80,000 people with an annual turnover of about £4 billion. Currently there are over 60,000 to 70,000 students studying in the UK. Many Bangladeshi students who came to Britain even before Bangladesh Independence in 1971 have been acting as the bridge between the two countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In conclusion, I would asseverate that Bangladesh is advancing at the international level as a progressive, secular, democratic country with ameliorating profile of human rights, institutional democracy, rule of law and good governance with impressive performance in the socio-economic field. Bangladesh is becoming a significant regional strategic hub with its visionary foreign policy for building closer and stronger relationships with the international communities.
Thank you all.
Dr. M. Sayeedur Rahman Khan
High Commissioner