Desk Report:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said Bangladesh will always assist to maintain global peace, even it also intends to do it.

“It is our constitutional obligation that Bangladesh shall always assist to maintain global peace. Our military has been playing a major role in global peacekeeping operations under the UN. We intend to maintain it,” she said.

The premier was addressing the opening ceremony of 46th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) – 2022 in the city’s Radisson Blu Hotel as the chief guest, joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Bangladesh Army is co-hosting this international seminar along with the United States involving 27 countries.

Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh is well known around the world for its great contribution to peace support operations.

“Bangladesh Army is always ready to serve the country and for the world peace in UN missions and anywhere in the world,” she said.

The prime minister noted that security dynamics in the current world are ever changing and getting complex day by day.

Any conflict or crisis affects every nation in the world, she said, adding, “It significantly hampers the security and steady development of the states.”

Mentioning that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a firm believer of multi-lateralism, she said in his first speech at UN General Assembly in 1974, he (Bangabandhu) pronounced the essence of our foreign policy dictum: “Friendship to all, Malice to none”.

Bangabandhu also urged the world leaders for their honest and peaceful regional and global cooperation with respect to the sovereignty of the states, she added.

“We’ve always maintained a friendly relation with global and regional partners taking the strength from our foreign policy,” she said.

This has allowed us to grow as a nation and gradually empowered us to claim our rightful position in the comity of nations, the prime minister added.

Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed gave the vote of thanks.

The prime minister said development, peace and security have become the main policy issues for almost all countries of the world.

“This important issue led the countries to stronger cooperation for sustainable development,” she said, adding it also paved the way for civil and military diplomatic channels of communication, dialogue and summits.

She said IPAMS is a multinational platform that “can create senses of friendship and warmth so that peace and stability prevail in the region”.

Sheikh Hasina observed that IPAMS has always played a significant role in maintaining friendship, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

She said, “I think, interaction through this forum will enable to discuss issues of common interests for arriving at pragmatic multi-lateral solutions.”

She also thanked all the participating countries for joining this seminar in Bangladesh and expressed her belief that senior military leaders must talk, interact and understand their viewpoints through these kinds of forums.

The premier opined that the army of any country is one of the key elements for ensuring sovereignty.

Born through the War of Liberation in 1971, she said, Bangladesh Army has developed significantly over the time.

As Bangladesh has stepped into her 51st year of independence, she said that in the last 50 years, Bangladesh has gone through huge transformations in its socio-economic fronts.

“It is now recognized by the international community as a ‘development miracle’ for our success, especially in poverty reduction, food and energy security, gender parity in primary and secondary school, reducing infant and maternal mortality rate, gender equality, etc,” she added.

She continued that, “Our economic and social progress have been possible, because we believe in the benefits of peace and we focused on the strength of our people.”

The prime minister, however, said that Bangladesh has given shelter to more than 1.2 million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals(FDMN).

Apart from their own miseries, she said, “FDMN’s prolonged presence is causing a serious impact on the economy, environment, security and socio-political stability of Bangladesh. (Source: BSS)