No country should be deprived of its due share on nature: Momen

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen on Wednesday said that no country should be deprived of its due share on nature including river.

“Geographies have destined us to take benefit of nature including rivers. One country should not be deprived of its due share,” he said and cautioned that everybody should be mindful that issues of domestic politics should not hurt the sentiment of the majority of people of other country.

The minister, who is now in New Delhi to attend the G20 foreign minister’s meeting, made these comments while making some points at a public talks titled ‘Promoting Culture of Peace for Shared Prosperity: A Vision for South Asia’ at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in New Delhi in the evening.

Director of Vivekananda International Foundation, a New Delhi based think tank, Arvind Gupta moderated the function that was attended, among others, by diplomats, academics, policy and security experts.

About economic cooperation, he said a country should not abruptly impose tariff and non-tariff barriers to offset the prospects of trade as it is the engine of growth and goes hand-in-hand with investment.

In this connection, he said since South Asia has one of the lowest levels of intra-regional trade anywhere in the world due to prevailing trade barriers, all countries should remove restrictions on investment from one country to another to promote economic and trade prosperity.

Emphasising on peaceful coexistence, he said the stability and prosperity of our region is inextricably linked with each other and that the future of the region can best be served by strengthening mutually beneficial relations with each other.

The minister also stressed on enhancing regional cooperation rather than division as the roots of regional cooperation lie in the realisation of social and economic benefits of the peoples of the region irrespective of existing divergences in political, social and economic performances of any country.

“Since our region is very volatile and at times, full of emotions, the intelligentia community including scientists, economists, litterateurs and journalists can make a positive and valuable contribution in negating any propaganda and in formulating sound and constructive programmes for the good and well-being of the region,” he said.

The foreign minister also underlined the need for promoting “Peace of Culture” across the nations as well as the region for shared prosperity.

“We have been promoting “Culture of Peace” across nations. The basic element of “Culture of Peace” is to inculcate a mind-set of tolerance, a mind-set of respect towards others, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, colour, background or race,” he said.

Momen said, “If we can develop such mind-set by stopping venom of hatred towards others, we can hope to have sustainable peace and stability across nations, leading to end of violence, wars, and terrorism in nations and regions”.

He said Bangladesh has been following a policy of shared prosperity as a vision for the friendly neighbours of South Asia. “Guided by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are advocating for inclusive development in the region through promotion of culture of peace along with other driving forces”.

Referring to Bangladesh-India relations, he said Bangladesh-India relationship is multifaceted and multidimensional and the bilateral ties ever-growing and continues to expand.

He said, “We inherited principles from the document for Bangladesh’s foreign policy with due importance on promotion of regional amity, international peace, security and solidarity, mutual respect for national sovereignty and equality”.

Momen said in our constitutional framework, caste or religious identity could never divert our core value of secularism. We have been able to protect the rights of all religion and ethnic minorities as we believe-communal harmony is the prerequisite to a stable Bangladesh, he added.

“We are not promoting culture of peace in national boundary only. We have resolved most of our critical issues with our neighbours peacefully through dialogues and discussions,” he said.

Guided by the principles of Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the minister further said our government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to fight for justice against injustice whether in Asia, Africa, or Latin America.

“Standing by the side of the oppressed people of the world, we desperately appeal for an end to all wars,” he added.

In this connection, he mentioned 1.2 million Rohingya nationals who were the target of brutal ethnic cleansing in their own country and persecuted in an incredible way unparalleled in the history of modern world.

The minister mentioned that Bangladesh is also mobilising regional and international support for their repatriation to home country with safety and dignity.

The minister informed the audience Bangladesh government is going to host the 6th Indian Ocean Conference on 12-13 May 2023 that as it aspire for “Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace”.