Foreign Minister for conducting strategic research like ‘great powers’
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday put emphasis on taking more research in the field of strategic studies like the “Great Powers” do while attempts are being made to polarise the Indo-Pacific region, reports news agency BSS.
“We have to remember that the Great Powers enjoy a strong research and think-tanks ... strategic research, backed by facts and insights, can help governments plan and implement its survival and growth strategies,” he said.
The foreign minister was speaking as the chief guest at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) Research Colloquium organised by BIISS at its auditorium in the capital.
The foreign minister said that research on strategic studies assists in understanding hidden opportunities from multiple perspectives, such as geopolitical situations, a nation’s inclination, and its political alignment strategies.
Momen said there is a growing need for research in strategic studies involving changing environment especially in this time amid increasingly competitive and complex global situation.
“Our geopolitical location as a basin country of the Bay of Bengal is a determining fact influencing our domestic and international affairs,” he said.
Momen said newer groups and blocks are coming up in the Indo-Pacific area and increasing climatic devastations and its impact on Bangladesh and the region while there is fear of radicalism and security risks.
In order to face the newly emerged global challenge, the foreign minister said the incumbent Bangladesh government has played an initiating and well planned role by its visible presence in the international main stream to strengthen the regional and sub-regional co-operation.
The minister claimed the government has set an example at implementing a successful and realistic application of humanitarian diplomacy for Rohingya repatriation.
He also said the government has strengthened its bilateral relations with its neighbours and other states by successful manoeuvring of its foreign policy and diplomacy to uplift the image of Bangladesh as a peaceful, progressive and responsible state.
Momen said Bangladesh has been able to graduate to a developing country with unprecedented developmental activities that are taken place during the era of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“This (graduation) was possible because of the successful diplomacy of Bangladesh at the United Nations,” he added.
BIISS chairman ambassador Kazi Imtiaz Hossain and its director general Major General Sheikh Pasha Habib Uddin also spoke.
The event was divided into three sessions. In each session, three speakers presented their recent research that concerns Bangladesh’s national interest.
The first session was on Bangladesh’s regional and global outreach which was chaired by BIISS chairman.
The second session was on security and strategic affairs chaired by former Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh, General (retd) Md. Abdul Mubeen.
The third session highlighted ‘Diplomacy and Negotiations’ which was chaired by professor Imtiaz Ahmed.
In their discussions and presentations, the speakers focused on the critical issues of national interest that involve regional and international affairs security, and developmental aspects.