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Bangabandhu Laid the Foundation for a Balanced Foreign Policy: Analysts

File Photo: Collected

File Photo: Collected

Policymakers and analysts said that under the policy directed by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with foresight as a statesman, Bangladesh apparently pursues a unique strategy to maintain balance between global and regional powers. They said Bangabandhu had adopted the policy of 'non-alignment' for the newly born Bangladesh in the early 1970s amid the Cold War in a politically polarized world. Despite the changing global situation, it remains effective and important to this day.

In a recent conversation with a BSS journalist, the then foreign minister of Bangabandhu's cabinet Dr Kamal Hossain said Bangabandhu, the founder of the country, wanted to avoid being drawn into the competition of global or regional power.

He said that at the same time Bangabandhu wanted good relations with all the major powers, then his goal was to ensure peace and stability in South Asia. The current foreign minister AK Abdul Momen calls it a ‘magical’ principle so that his ‘inherent virtue’ is revealed.

In an interview with BSS in August, Momen said, "We are still following and maintaining this policy ... following Bangabandhu with his daughter (Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina) and her own prudence ... successfully balancing everything."

Momen also said Dhaka's good relations with India and China are one example of that policy. On the other hand, these two close neighbors have maintained their strong presence in the global economic and political context with different perspectives.

Momen, an economist and diplomat by profession, said Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation when the world was clearly divided into Western and Soviet blocs and that this division also had an impact on the liberation war.

There was a general idea that Bangladesh might join the then Soviet Union-led bloc to support Moscow during the war of liberation, but Bangabandhu took the path of being part of the ‘Non-Aligned Movement’ platform or the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Momen said Bangabandhu later joined the NAM and OIC conferences and presented to the international arena that Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country with a vision to maintain peace. In this case, Bangabandhu, realizing what is needed for Bangladesh, took the appropriate decision considering the international diplomatic reality.

He said Bangabandhu had shown his high intelligence in negotiations with his closest neighbor and ally India in 1971 on various issues including land boundaries, water sharing and alliance agreements.

Momen noted that soon after returning from captivity in Pakistan on January 10, 1972, Bangabandhu requested the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to withdraw her troops from Bangladesh as soon as possible. Bangabandhu did this to show the whole world that Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country.

Immediately after independence, the Soviet Union announced its readiness to send naval-de-mining units free of charge to conduct general naval operations at two important installations, such as Chittagong and the port of Chalna.

In that Cold War era, under his visionary leadership, Bangabandhu decided to split the rescue operation - Russia was given the task of cleaning the port of Chittagong, the UN was allowed to do the same at the port of Chalna.

Momen said Bangabandhu's decision thwarted the so-called propaganda that the Soviet navy was prolonging its position in Bangladesh's waters.

He said that as foreign minister, he had emphasized economic diplomacy, which stemmed from Bangabandhu's foreign policy and economic outlook, and "basically ... we are following what he wanted to do."

Dr. Kamal Hossain who served as Foreign Minister from March 1973 to August 1975 said Bangabandhu was very pragmatic in strengthening relations with different countries of the world and even with India to protect the interests of Bangladesh. Where India had important support for Bangladesh's independence.

He said in the history of specific talks with India between 1971 and 1975, Bangladesh had said in every case that the big neighbor should be given concessions on any issue.

Dr. As Kamal Hossain wrote in his book 'Bangladesh: Aspirations for Independence and Justice', no one was more aware of the need to ensure proper consideration of Bangladesh's interests than Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Former Foreign Secretary Fakhruddin Ahmed has given a similar account in his writings as a witness to the meeting between Bangladesh and India on the land boundary agreement.

Ahmed wrote that Bangabandhu had told the Indian delegation (including Mrs. Gandhi) that India was a big country and that it did not matter if India gave concessions to Bangladesh here or there. Ahmed further wrote that this remarkable remark stunned the entire delegation.

"Before agreeing to sign the border agreement, Bangabandhu repeatedly said that we must make sure that there is no possibility of gas or oil in the areas where we have agreed to the border agreement," the former top foreign bureaucrat said.

Regarding the exchange of views with the Soviet Union, another major ally in 1971, Kamal Hossain said Bangabandhu decided to pay his first visit to Moscow 1972 outside the region. But he made it clear that Bangladesh is in favor of building its relations with other Asian countries on a bilateral basis, not within a multilateral framework.

The former foreign minister said that when Bangabandhu went to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly in 1974, there was a proposal that he should go to New York and return to attend the summit instead of going to Washington, the US capital.

Hossain wrote that the invitation did come and Bangabandhu decided to accept it. He thought that if he refused the invitation, it would be misinterpreted to tarnish Bangladesh by saying that Bangladesh was under Soviet and Indian influence.

Bangabandhu also started trade with China to make progress towards establishing normal bilateral relations with Beijing.

Hossain said all the steps taken by Bangabandhu were aimed at pursuing a policy of non-alignment, seeking good relations with all major powers, and avoiding the process of involving Bangladesh in global or regional power competition.

"The goal was peace and stability in South Asia ... it was in 1972, and it is still there today," he wrote. This is the most prudent arrangement of objectives to guide the relations between the countries of South Asia.

Source: BSS

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