Preface:

Foreign policy is not created in a vacuum. It is grounded on a country’s strengths and

weaknesses. Besides, size, geographical location and resources influence directions of foreign
policy. All these attributes are to be assessed objectively and dispassionately in determining the
policy. Furthermore, foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy. In other words, objectives
of domestic policy are to be pursued robustly through foreign policy. Domestic and foreign
policies are two sides of the same coin. It cannot be separated. One particular fact is to be noted
in this context what Lord Palmerstone has said that no country is an eternal enemy or a
permanent friend. What is permanent is national interest and it is to be pursued vigorously. 1

Bangladesh is located in South Asia. The region is war-torn one since 1947. Peace and stability
have eluded the region. Bangladesh is sandwiched between two rising Asia’s giants—India and
China. India is the hugging neighbor and China is only 100 miles across the Himalayas.
Furthermore, Bangladesh stands as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia.

Foreign policy is based on certain ingredients such as, history, geography, religion, culture and
natural resources. The ingredients are not changeable. Foreign policy of small states is a difficult
process. It is more difficult in the contemporary world situation. Bangladesh belongs to the
category of small states in terms of its size, population, natural resources, state economy and
military capability. For instant Bangladesh behaves differently with other state and organization
towards security, prosperity, status and global environment. The two important area of
Bangladesh Foreign Policy are security and development.

1Bangladesh Foreign Policy: Realities & Challenges

By Barrister Harun ur Rashid, Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

1
 Foreign policy:
―We he have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our
interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.‖
------------------Lord Palmerston, (Henry John Temple, 1784-1865) 3rd Viscount, 1848.

These forthright and prophetic words of Lord Palmerston dating back about a century and a half
had placed the essence of a country’s foreign policy destiny. Time has changed, so has process
and structure of decision-making, and even the nature of the international system itself has
changed; but the focus or motivation of foreign policy decision-making has not. It is appropriate
to mention that Palmerston's foreign office had about 50 staff members, a hundred year later
George Brown was presiding over a foreign office with a staff hundred-fold more than in
Palmerston's time. Across the Atlantic, when. Thomas Jefferson took over as the First Secretary
of State in 1790; the U.S. State Department had eight employees, two diplomatic missions and
ten consular posts. If one compares the current diplomatic setup in either of the two countries
with the old one can imagine how complex and wide-ranging foreign policy establishment has
emerged in either of these countries. 2

The term ―FOREIGN POLICY‖ is comprised of two words consequently foreign and policy.
Any place or country that is situated outside of a country is called foreign and the word policy
refers to principle by following which any state achieved its desired goal.
Padelford, Lincoin and Olvy mentioned that,
―policy is the overall result of the process by which a state translates its broadly conceived goals
and interests into specific courses of action in order to achieve its objectives and preserve its
interests‖.

2
Normative Trends, Values, and Bangladesh Foreign Policy, Ambassador Wali-ur Rahman

2
 Definition of foreign policy:

Foreign policy can be defined in various ways as the foreign policy experts give various
definitions. Some of them given below:

According to .Merriam Webster dictionary foreign policy indicates,

―The policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states‖

According to prince Otto von Bismarck,

―The extension of domestic policy is foreign policy.‖

According to C.V, Crabbe,

―Foreign policy is constructed with two elements namely fixing national goals and the medium
through which the goals will be fulfilled.‖

Determinants of Bangladesh Foreign policy:

There are some determinants of Bangladesh foreign policy which have impact on foreign policy
formulation. They are given below:
1. Geographical-Strategic position.
2. Population
3. Economic condition.
4. Ideological environment.
5. Military Capability.
6. Quality of Government, national leadership and diplomacy.
7. National History.
8. Religion.
9. Culture and Natural Resources.

3
 Principles of Bangladesh Foreign policy:
There are some principles maintained by the foreign policy of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a
member of various international key organizations such as the UN, the NAM etc. so
the principles of Bangladesh foreign policy cannot be controversial with the principles of these
organizations.
There are four basic principles of Bangladesh foreign policy. These are given below:

1. Friendship to all and malice towards none.

2. Respect to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other states.
3. Non interval in the domestic matter of any state.
4. World peace.

Aims of Bangladesh Foreign policy:

1.To promote national interest.

2.To ensure national security.
3.To ensure development.
4.To increase national dignity.
5.To keep her Ideology alive.

as i want to focus on national security framework and development, want to discus in short about
ensuring national security and development.

To ensure national security:

National security has two dimensions namely internal and external. By the internal dimension,
we understand the political and economic stability in domestic sphere. It means there is no
turbulent situation in Bangladesh domestic sphere. On the other side by the external security, we
understand the preservation of Bangladesh sovereignty from the external enemies. When policy
makers formulate foreign policy they keep this matter and make the policy.

4
 To ensure the development:

Nationwide development is another agenda of Bangladesh foreign policy. So when foreign

policy is formulated then it is followed that how development will be generated and for that what
type of aid or grant is needed and how it can be attained from whom. By considering all these
foreign policy of Bangladesh is formulated.

Security and Bangladesh Foreign Policy:

Security had been and continues to be the prime concern of individuals, groups and states in the
present world order. The end of cold war did not lessen the chances of armed conflicts. The
chance of land invasion by the adversaries is obviously less likely, but the use of armed forces to
impose national objectives is still a reality worldwide. Proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and the danger of these devastated weapons ending up in the hands of the terrorist
organizations are obviously frightening matters. Nuclearization of South East Asia and the
possible unintended or accidental use of the nuclear weapons by our neighbours like India or
Pakistan are posing serious security challenges for the whole of Southeast Asian nations
including Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh foreign policy is described by many as a moderate policy which greatly relies on
multinational diplomacy. It is said that most of the diplomacy employed by Bangladesh takes
place within the United Nations. Bangladesh is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations ever
since 1974 and during the same year it had joined the Unite Nations. Ever since 1974,
Bangladesh served two terms on the Security Council, one starting in 1978 and another in 2000.
Bangladesh is also a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, a
membership aimed at enhancing cooperation and relations with the neighboring South Asian
states, as well as other countries in the area. This association was founded in 1985 and ever since
Bangladesh was elected to occupy the Secretary General post twice.

5
 1.Bangladeshi Foreign Security Framework and POLICIES:
The context of threats has been multiplied in the past decades. The nature of threats now includes
military as well as many non-military issues. Traditional security concerns like border and
territoriality struggles, power rivalries and arms races are very much present in the South East
Asia. On the contrary trans-boundary problems like environmental degradation, rising of religion
fundamentalism, terrorism, arms and drug trafficking are also on the rise. The persisting political
instability, political violence, increased population, entrenched poverty, lack of good governance
is posing serious threat to the state and society of Bangladesh. Indeed such problems are
multiplied everyday with added dimensions with the changing atmosphere.
Thus, Bangladesh uses some strategic framework of security to maintain good relation with other
world.

The Bangladeshi worldview follows a number of foreign policy doctrines and Strategies. I will
first proceed to a discussion of basic perspectives and strategies and then to describe patterns of
foreign policy behavior from Bangladeshi leaders perspective. Then I shall describe their current
situation in terms of threats and opportunities. Wherever appropriate we shall interpret these
policies and make a projection of where they might lead to in the future.

There are three steps of security patterns given below

1. Natural Security
2. National security patterns
3. Threat assessment -terrorism

6
 1. Natural Security: Basic Strategies

Since Bangladesh is a weak state with little diplomatic weight, it employs ―balance of power
alliance‖ as its major perspectives in developing security strategies. We also see collective
security in its foreign policy. Hence, in Bangladeshi case we observe multiple affiliations-type
security strategies as described below.
The types of natural security system:
a. Balance of power
b. Collective security
c. Full-scale disarmament
d. Non-aligned strategy

a) Balance of Power Alliance

The strategy of balance of power, ―states seek to prevent hegemony by entering anti-hegemonic
alliances with other threatened states.‖Thus, balance of power preserves the sovereignty of
countries and creates an equilibrium that promotes order and peace.‖3
As Bangladesh is a weak state, actively employs balance of power security strategy so that it can
balance her relationship with western developed nations such as the United States, UK, Russia
etc.
Bangladesh actively participates in three ―Balance of power‖ alliances;

 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC),

 South-South Cooperation
 Asian-African Summit

3 John T. Rourke. International Politics on the World Stage.

7
  South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):
SAARC was founded through the initiation of the then Bangladesh President General Ziaur
Rahman to promote South Asian regional co-operation. ―SAARC Charter was formally adopted
on December 8, 1985 by the Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka,‖ the eighth member-Afghanistan was added in the 13th SAARC
Summit.
In that summit, Japan and China were given observer status in SAARC. Moreover, both U.S. and
EU have made formal request to gain observer status in SAARC. This suggests that western
developed nations realize the significance of SAARC in shaping international relations and
hence they have requested observer status. Seven objectives defined in the SAARC Charter, in
terms of balance of power; three of the seven objectives are significant that given below:

1.To promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of

South Asia;
2. To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;
3. To strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on
matters of common interest;4

The above-mentioned objectives provide evidence to support the statement that through SAARC
Bangladesh practices balance of power strategy against western developed nations by the usage
of cooperation and collective self-reliance among member states. The purpose of SAARC is to
hold informal political consultations that would prove useful in promoting peace, stability, amity,
and accelerated socio-economic cooperation in the region.
Cooperation in the SAARC is based on respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial
integrity, political independence, noninterference in internal affairs of the Member States and
mutual benefit.

4
SAARC. “A brief on SAARC.” May 5, 2005.(http://www.saarc-
sec.org/main.php?id=76&t=1)

8
 Thus, SAARC serves Bangladeshi security objectives in terms of protecting its sovereignty.
Moreover, through SAARC Bangladesh maintains a check on India’s expansionist desires as
India is also a member of SAARC, thus India has to abide by the SAARC objectives with respect
to territorial integrity.

 South-South Cooperation

The South – South Cooperation was proposed by the Group of 77 developing countries in the
2000 South Summit in Havana. After that it came into force in the 2003 Marrakech Declaration.
The participants at the Conference on South-South Cooperation agreed on key points that reflect
the balance of power security strategy.

The key agreement are given below:

1. Recognize that South-South cooperation is not an option but an imperative to complement

North-South cooperation in order to contribute to the achievement of the internationally agreed
development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;
2. Reaffirm the importance of South-South solidarity, and in this regard we firmly reject the
imposition of laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other coercive measures,
including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, which contribute in impeding their
economic growth and development and are inconsistent with the principles of international law,
UN Charter and the principles of the multilateral trading system.
3. Express the conviction that the South-South cooperation is more needed today than ever. No
single country has much hope of reaching individually expected growth and development and
influencing outcomes of international agenda. But, collectively, our countries can play a more
effective role in achieving development objectives and in shaping international relations. 5
The above mentioned points support the balance of power strategy because they

5
G-77.“Marrakech declaration on South-South Cooperation” May 4, 2006
(http://www.g77.org/marrakech/Marrakech-Declaration.htm).

9
 stress the need for SSC to complement North-South cooperation and to reject the
imposition of laws with extraterritorial impact. Moreover, the SSC believes that collectively they
can have significant influence in shaping international relations. In the 60th session of the UN
General Assembly (UNGA) held in September 2005, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
reiterated her support for SSC stating, ―A priority concern for us is our close identity with Africa.
We believe that South-South Cooperation has specific relevance in this context.‖

 Asian-African Summit

AAS was initiated in 1955 and was the first ever Asian-African conference. It was Created to
exert the interests of developing nations and overcome the sphere of Western influence during
the Cold War. Bangladesh became a member of the Asian-African Summit soon after its
independence in 1971. The Asian-African summit completed 50 years in April 2005. At the 50th
Asian-African Summit, the leaders declared their new political will called ―New Asian-African
Strategic Partnership (NAASP) that covers three areas; political solidarity, economic
cooperation, and socio-cultural relations.‖ The goal of NAASP is to achieve peace and
prosperity in the region. The NAASP based on the ten principles of Bandung of the 1955 Asian-
African Conference.

The key principles significant in terms of balance of power strategy are:

1.Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defense to serve the

particular interests of any of the big powers. Abstention by any country from
exerting pressures on other countries."

2. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the
territorial integrity or political independence of any country.6

From the above two principles we again observe the emphasis placed on protection of territorial
integrity from use of force by big powers. For instance, AAS supports Palestinian independence.

6
The Institute for Security Studies.“Declaration on the New Asian-African Strategic
Partnership(http://www.iss.co.za/af/regorg/unity_to_union/pdfs/asiaafrica/badungdeca
pr05.pdf)

10
 In the NAASP declaration, the members agreed to support ―the creation of a viable and
sovereign Palestinian state, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolution.‖

Thus, the above discussion on membership of Bangladesh in regional and multilateral

organizations- SAARC, SSC, and AAS reflects the ―Balance of Power‖ alliance strategy
practiced by the nation. Therefore, one of the security ―instruments‖ used by Bangladesh to
maintain territorial sovereignty is balance of power.

b) Collective Security

The idea of collective security is similar to that of balance of power alliance because of the
common objectives such as protection of sovereignty. But the strategies differ in terms of the
composition of the organization and actions. Collective Security entails that ―attack against one
is an attack against all.‖ This key feature of collective security is not addressed by the balance of
power strategy.

The key elements of collective security are:7

1. All countries forswear the use of force except in self-defense.
2. All agree that peace is indivisible. An attack against one is an attack against all.
3. All agree to supply material or personnel resources to halt aggression.
There are two main instruments of collective security employed within the Bangladesh security
strategy; the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

United Nations (UN)

The United Nations serves to prevent international conflict and restore peace when violence
occurs by creating ―norms against violence‖ which are provided by diplomatic intervention and
debates.

7 U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Bangladesh,”

11
 Bangladesh was admitted to the United Nations in 1974 and was elected to the Security Council
in 1978 and in 2000.264 additionally, the then Foreign Minister Choudhury served as the
President of the 41st UN General Assembly in 1986.
Bangladesh sought UN intervention regarding the Ganges water-sharing dispute with India
discussed later. Thus, the UN served as a passive forum in which Bangladesh publicly aired its
political points of view and reached privately held peaceful negotiations with India.
Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC)

Bangladesh became a member of the OIC in 1974 during General Ziaur Rahman’s regime. OIC
is considered as a collective security strategy because its charter outlines ―protection of
sovereignty of all Muslim people.‖ The key objectives and principles of the OIC charter that
pertain to collective security are: 8

1] To promote Islamic solidarity among Member States.

2] To take necessary measures to support international peace and security
founded on justice.
3] To back the struggle of all Muslim people with a view to preserving their
dignity, independence and national rights.
4] Abstention from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity,
national unity or political independence of any Member States.

Thus the OIC argues for refrain from use of force against territorial integrity of member states
and supports the fight against aggression. For instance one of the objectives of the OIC charter is,

―To coordinate efforts for the safeguarding of the Holy Places and support of the struggle of the
people of Palestine, to help them regain their rights and liberate their land.‖

8 The Organization of Islamic Conferences, “Charter of the OIC.”

12
 Therefore, through the OIC and the UN, Bangladesh practices the Collective Security strategy to
protect its sovereignty and support its Islamic values.

c) Full-Scale Disarmament
Bangladesh being a weak state cannot afford high defense expenditures as the United States to
build a fortress or engage in a strategy of pre-emption. Moreover, it faces a regional threat to
peace from the nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh cannot afford to develop nuclear weapons because it does not have sufficient funds
to build stellar nuclear research facilities. Thus, to protect itself and to appease its western donor
nations, Bangladesh became the first South Asian nation to sign significant treaties on
disarmament. By signing the treaties, it has chosen a path different from its neighbors. This
signifies its ability to make an independent decision without being influenced by the pressure
from its neighbors, as they would have preferred Bangladesh align with them and not ratify the
CTBT and NPT.

The following treaties have been signed by Bangladesh.

i) Biological Weapons Convention (1975) -Bangladesh acceded to the treaty in 1985.

ii) Chemical Weapons Convention (1997) –Bangladesh acceded to the treaty in 1997.
iii) Anti-Personnel Mine Convention (1997) - Bangladesh acceded to the treaty in 2000.
iv) Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1996) - Bangladesh ratified the treaty in
2000.
v) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) -Bangladesh acceded to the treaty in 2000.

in the General Debate of the First (Disarmament and International Security) Committee (55th
UNGA session) in October 2000, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh Anwarul Karim
Chowdhury stated,

“As an active member of the Conference on Disarmament, Bangladesh remains committed

to contributing to discussions, deliberations, debates and substantive negotiations on a
broad range of disarmament and non-proliferation issues…As a South Asian nation,
Bangladesh hopes that India and Pakistan will soon join the CTBT in keeping with
announcements by their heads of government and free the region of nuclear rivalry…In

13
 closing, may I say that disarmament should not be seen as an end in itself. We must pursue
this objective with determination and sincerity.”9

Thus Bangladesh actively supports disarmament with the motive of protecting its territorial
integrity and maintaining peace in South Asia.

d) Non-aligned Strategy
Bangladesh is party to the Non-aligned movement (NAM). The Non-Aligned Movement
constitutes 115 members and was developed as an outcome of great power politics during the
Cold War. The eligibility requirements to become a member of NAM reiterate its non-aligned
security policy.

The criteria are the following: 10

1.The country should have adopted an independent policy based on the coexistence of States
with different political and social systems and on nonalignment or should be showing a trend in
favor of such a policy.

2. The country concerned should be consistently supporting the Movements for National
Independence.

3. The country should not be a member of a multilateral military alliance concluded in the
context of Great Power conflicts.

4. If a country has a bilateral military agreement with a Great Power, or is a member of a

regional defence pact, the agreement or pact should not be one deliberately concluded in the
context of Great Power conflicts.

9 UN, “General Debate of the 55th Session of the UNGA,”

(http://www.un.int/bangladesh/ga/st/55ga/55-gd1com.htm)
10 NAM “The Non-Aligned Movement: Description and History”

http://www.nam.gov.za/background/history.htm

14
 5. If it has conceded military bases to a Foreign Power the concession should not have been
made in the context of Great Power conflicts.

Bangladesh used NAM to achieve its goal of peace in the South Asian region by advocating for
nuclear non-proliferation through the parameters outlined in NAM.

2. National Security Patterns: Friends, Enemies, the Rest:

The patterns of foreign policy relationships of Bangladesh since its independence in 1971 can
best be seen from the accompanying chart. The chart outlines the security pattern into four
categories: relationships of agreement, hostility, accommodation, and dependency.

The relationships of agreement include those countries that were in a semi-formal alliance with
Bangladesh. As discussed in the previous section on Security Strategies, Bangladesh is part of
the Asian-African Summit, NAM, and the OIC. All three organizations support Palestinian
independence, hence Palestine enjoys an agreeable relationship with Bangladesh. It also enjoys
agreeable relationships with other Islamic nations such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Malaysia.
Bangladesh supported Afghanistan’s bid to become a member of SAARC.

Bangladesh has an agreeable relationship with Sri-Lanka because both nations have the common
objective to check India’s regional dominance. Bangladesh is hostile towards both Israel and

15
 Taiwan because of its solidarity with Palestine and China respectively. With respect to Israel,
Bangladesh supports Palestine independence because of two reasons. First, majority of its
population are Muslim (89.7%). Second, it is allied with the OIC and the AAS. As stated in
―balance of power‖ alliance, both these organizations support Palestinian independence.
Therefore, the above-mentioned factors have influenced Bangladesh’s decision and hence it does
not recognize Israel. ―Bangladesh reiterates her support for early establishment of a sovereign
independent State in Palestine in accordance with relevant UN resolutions.‖ Additionally, it does
not recognize Taiwan, and harbors a hostility pattern towards it. In 2000 Taiwan established a
liaison office in Bangladesh, to issue visas for Bangladeshi people wanting to visit Taiwan.
When China came to know about the office the Bangladeshi ambassador to Beijing recalled back
and China asked Bangladesh to take effective steps to shut down the Taiwanese office.
Eventually, the office was shut down in May 20, 2004.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Liu Jianchao responded by stating, China greatly
appreciates Bangladesh for upholding the one-China policy. From the above situation analysis
we can conclude that Bangladesh is greatly influenced by China, hence we have put China in the
dependency column. Bangladesh also has a dependency outlook towards the Middle East states
such as the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) because of remittances from Bangladeshi workers and
oil. Remittances have helped Bangladesh maintain an overall budget surplus despite the trade
deficit. It has a dependency security pattern with the U.S., EU, and Japan because of two reasons.
First, U.S. and EU are the major export destinations for Bangladesh, while Japan is a major
import source. Second, Bangladesh seeks U.S., EU, and Japan’s support for Official
Development Assistance discussed later.

Though Bangladesh is allied with India and Pakistan through SAARC, it considers both of them
a threat in the region because of their nuclear capability. However, it is dependent on both of
them for imports. China, along with being a second-largest import source for Bangladesh after
India, also acts as a balance of power in terms of Indian ―South-Asian hegemony‖ and hence
Bangladesh is dependent on China.

16
 Liberation War 1971 – Security Pattern:

D = Diplomatic, M = Military

Since Bangladesh is a young democratic country that received its independence only 35 years
ago, we haven’t been able to identify a distinct security pattern. However, in order to get a sense
of its security alliances, we will briefly look at the power politics that came into play during
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 as outlined in the above model. Bangladesh war of
independence received diplomatic and military support principally from India. India’s chief
interest was to ―dilute‖ Pakistan’s power in the region so that India could establish regional
hegemony. Thus, it supported Bangladesh liberation struggle for sovereignty. To achieve the
objective of Bangladesh’s independence, India rallied diplomatic and military support from
U.S.S.R which supplied arms to Indian military force that were fighting the Pakistani army at the
then ―East- Pakistani‖ border. India also recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state at the UN
General Assembly discussed earlier and got Soviet Union’s vote for it too. On the antagonist

17
 side, we have Pakistan as the principal antagonist followed by U.S. and China. The position of
Pakistan was that it did not want to lose its eastern counterpart as ―East Pakistan‖ represented a
natural bridge to South-east Asia and enabled Pakistan to have borders both on the north-west
and on the eastern part of India, thus checking India’s power in the region. Similarly the position
of U.S. and China was to maintain thestatus quo in the region and to constrict India’s rise in
South Asia because of its informal alliance with U.S.S.R. Hence, U.S. and China supplied arms
to Pakistan and met with the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to discuss India’s interest
in independence of Bangladesh. Thus, Bangladesh liberation war eventually became an
instrument of power struggle between the two superpowers during the intense Cold War.

3. Threat Assessment – Terrorism

Bangladesh has maintained the liberal security perspective to deal with the most serious threat
that Bangladesh faces currently i.e. rise of Islamic fundamentalism. To reflect her liberalist
perspective we will provide three facts.
Bangladesh signed the regional SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism. Due to the
recent terrorist bombings, Bangladesh has acknowledged that it has a ―terrorists‖ problem and
accepted U.S. assistance to deal with the challenge. US will provide technical training assistance
in forming a financial intelligence unit (FIU) and an inter-agency strike force to fight money
laundering and other financial crimes, including fund flow for terrorist activities .Thus,
Bangladesh has employed liberalist perspective to deal with the threat by accepting U.S. help to
combat terrorism.
Bangladesh condemns terrorism in all its forms. It has acceded to all antiterrorism conventions of
the UN and relevant regional organizations. It support the early conclusion of a comprehensive
UN Convention.

18
 Bangladeshi Foreign Prosperity Policy Framework:

Bangladeshi foreign prosperity policies stemmed from some aspects of the Bangladeshi foreign
policy orientation. Fortunately, I can be rather brief in describing most of them and in supplying
illustrative examples to document them. In the case of prosperity, I shall describe their current
situation in terms of challenges and opportunities at the end of this section.

Perspectives and Strategies COMBINED:

Prosperity perspectives and foreign economic strategies are inter-related hence discussion of
both is required in the same breath with an explanation of their relationship. Three perspectives
and strategies stand out on Bangladesh prosperity policies. They are as follows:

Prosperity Perspective Prosperity Strategy

Economic Nationalism Self-Reliant Strategy
Capitalism World System (Dependency Affiliation Strategy
theory)
Free Trade Affiliation Strategy

Patterns of Prosperity Interaction:

a) Foreign Trade
b) Capital Flow
c) Relationships with International Financial Organizations
d) Balance of Payments
e) The Current Situation: Challenges and Opportunities

Challenges:

Both natural hazards and government accountability have constrained economic prospects of
Bangladesh.

Foreign aid:

19
 Due to natural hazards such as floods and droughts, Bangladesh has been consistently dependent
on foreign aid. foreign debt remains a critical inhibitor of Bangladesh’s economic growth. Major
aid donors for Bangladesh are core states; Japan and United States, and transnational
organizations; Asian Development Bank and UN Development Programme.

Lack of Government Accountability

Corruption has been a significant constraint in the path to economic progress for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has received the lowest corruption index score consecutively since the last five
years.

Current Opportunities

Though Bangladesh does not currently enjoy an advantageous economic position, it has the
potential to exploit its under-utilized resources such as cheap labor and natural gas.

Cheap Labor

Bangladesh has a large human capital, which is under-utilized and unskilled because of the low
literacy rate.

Natural Gas

The recent discovery of Natural gas can be a potential boon for Bangladesh if it undertakes co-
operative partnership with its energy hungry neighbor India.

C. Bangladeshi Status Policies

Bangladesh has gained status in the international system via sports, literature, biodiversity, and
historic landmarks.

Bangladesh, a newcomer in international cricket won the one-day match against

World Champions Australia on June 18, 2005. Runners up in 2012 asia cup.

20
 Bangladesh pleased the World Cup selection committee with the unexpected win and gained an
opportunity to co-host the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.

In the literature field, Bangladeshis also take great pride in their mother language, Bengali. The
International Mother Language day celebrated on February 21st of each year since 1999 was
because of Bangladesh Government’s initiative in the UN. It is celebrated on February 21st
because on this day in 1952, Pakistani police opened fire at unarmed peaceful students protesting
to defend the rights of their mother-language, Bengali. Since 1953, Bangladesh celebrates
February 21 as Language Martyrs’ Day. Thus, ―with the declaration of 21st February as the
International Mother Language Day, Language Martyrs’ Day has transcended the national
borders of Bangladesh and acquired an international significance and a global dimension.11

Bangladesh also attracts tourists to the three of the world’s most renowned UN World Heritage
Sites – the Buddhist Vihara, the Sunderbans, and the Mosque City in Bagerhat. A tourist can
experience history by exploring the ruins of the Buddhist Vihara in Paharpur dated back to the
7th century rise of Mahayana Buddhism.At Sunderbans, a tourist can observe the wide range of
flora and fauna (250 bird species) in the biggest mangrove forests in the world.313 A
conspicuous inhabitant of the Sunderbans is the Royal Bengal Tiger found only in the Gangetic
deltaic region. In the historic Mosque City of Bagerhat, one gets to explore the early Islamic
architecture in the exceptional number of mosques built in the city by the Turkish general Ulugh
Khan Jahan in the 15th century.
Thus, Bangladesh has established its status in the world system through sports, literature,
biodiversity, and historic architecture.

11Kabir Chowdhury, “21st February : International Mother Language Day” May 5, 2006
(http://www.sdnbd.org/21st_february.htm)

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 D. Policies towards the Global Environment Situation

(1) The Bangladeshi Perspective on the Environment Situation

The key environmental issues currently faced by Bangladesh are land degradation, water
pollution, air pollution, biodiversity, and natural disasters. Moreover, these problems have been
key inhibitors in the rise of Bangladesh economy. Hence, Bangladesh actively implements both
domestic and international environment policies such that it overcome environmental hurdles to
achieve economic prosperity.

(2) Bangladeshi Policies toward the Situation

The Bangladesh domestic environment policy statement follows.

The Fourth Five Year Plan describes the government's environmental objectives as:
(i) To control and prevent pollution degradation related to soil, water, and air;
(ii) To promote environment-friendly activities in development area;
(iii) To preserve, protect and develop natural resource bases;
(iv) To strengthen the capabilities of public and private sectors to manage environment concerns
as a basic requisite for sustainable development; and
(v) to create peoples' awareness for participation in environment promotion activities.12

With respect to international politics, Bangladesh is a party to critical environmental treaties such
as the Kyoto Protocol as shown in the Table below.

12Country Profile Bangladesh

(http://www.rrcap.unep.org/country/cp/sasia/cp_Bangladesh.cfm)

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 From the above Table we can observe that United States has not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol,
the Convention of Biological Diversity, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Thus, we can
conclude that Bangladesh being a weak nation, dependent on foreign aid uses international
environmental agreements as a tool to increase its bargaining power to gain more foreign aid by
pleasing western donor nations such as Sweden. However, United States, on the other hand, is a
core state not dependent on foreign aid, and thus it does not feel pressurized to sign international
environmental agreements.

Conclusion:

Bangladesh foreign policy, in my view, stands largely on two pillars: security, development. A
foreign policy is successful if it is proactive and result oriented. It must not respond only to
situations but plans ahead of strategy so that no situation surprises the country within the region
or globally.

For Bangladesh’s foreign policy and diplomacy to be successful in Breaking new grounds; it is
of critical importance for Bangladesh to scrupulously avoid getting embroiled in disputes
between and amongst countries or play one against the other; this would be an expensive hobby
and the nation will have to pay dearly for it; we need to understand that there are cooperation and
competition between and amongst the super, big and emerging powers including USA, EC,
China, India, Russia and Japan; constraint of space will not permit an elaboration of this vital
aspect and reality of contemporary International Relation; we should play a constructive role

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 bilaterally and multilaterally to try to defuse tensions, resolve conflicts and work collectively for
peace. Diplomacy can only operate if there is peace; war or conflict is, therefore, said to be the
vanishing point of diplomacy.

In Bangladesh we were looking forward to new era of democratic good governance, free from
the confrontational politics of the past, including an effective parliament with active participation
of the opposition based on lessons learnt from 1/11 and the failures of the democratic political
process since independence. Unfortunately, we continue to be a divided and polarised nation
along party lines, with hardly any consensus on vital issues of foreign and domestic policies.
This has seriously affected our negotiating capacity with the foreign countries.

This growing divide has to be reversed without delay by achieving a modicum of consensus on
vital national issues between the government and the opposition. The need for national unity and
consensus at this critical juncture of our history cannot be over emphasized. This alone can
strengthen our diplomacy which is our first line of defense.

Bangladesh must take advantage of the many opportunities in the international sphere through
robust foreign policy initiatives. The global economic crisis has had a negative effect on two of
the most important aspects of Bangladesh’s economy, RMG and Manpower export. Despite this,
opportunities exist to minimize the economic downturn through innovative foreign policy.

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