Comments by the Hon'ble Foreign Minister Mr. M. Morshed Khan, MP, addressing members of Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (OCAB) on 20 July 2006.

Dear OCAB Members,

It is a great pleasure to meet the members of the Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (OCAB) who I do believe are making sincere efforts in projecting Bangladesh's interests and accomplishments around the world.

Modern diplomacy- is as topical as it is challenging. Today, strong external publicity remains critical in advancing our foreign policy priorities in the wave of multiple exchanges and initiatives that form global diplomacy.

Global

Bangladesh plays a strong role in global affairs through concrete initiatives. Our role is one of moderation and pragmatism. We have consistently highlighted the cause of developing countries and especially of the least developed ones in various socio-economic forums. We have been making calls for global and regional strategies to stop falling investment, to restructure and reduce debt as well as to promote trade and encourage technology transfer.

A fundamental impetus for Bangladesh is to strengthen the role of the United Nations as the central organ for the cooperative management of the world's problems. Our membership of the UN, the Commonwealth, OIC and NAM have enhanced our representative capacity and increased our ability to contribute to the great goals of peace, security, justice and development. Bangladesh's commitment to peacekeeping manifested itself in the participation of our military and police contingents in many conflict areas across four continents. Today we are the largest peacekeepers in the world.

Muslim Ummah

Bangladesh remains committed to the cause of unity, peace and progress of the Muslim Ummah. Our support for the cause of Palestine and for a peaceful and durable resolution of the Middle East problem including Arab sovereignty over Holy Jerusalem is an abiding commitment.

We fully support the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including their right to have a State of their own with Jerusalem as its capital. Bangladesh maintains its principled stance for a comprehensive solution of the Palestinian question in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, the Arab Peace Plan and the Road Map.

We are deeply concerned over the current situation in the Middle East. We feel world community should come forward to restrain the state terrorism of Israeli aggression on Lebanon and the people of Palestine.

Bangladesh is committed to the preservation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States including Iraq. We deeply value the centrality of the United Nations in maintaining world peace and stability. Therefore, the UN should have the key role in the reconstruction process to bring an end to the sufferings of the people of Iraq.

On Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament

As signatory to the NPT, Bangladesh believes in the basic and inalienable right of all States, to develop research, produce and use atomic energy for peaceful purposes, without any discrimination and in conformity with the Treaty.

Iran: We believe in the amicable and peaceful resolution of the problem through dialogue. Bangladesh encourages Iran for its active cooperation with the IAEA and urges it to continue its cooperation within the Agency's mandate to resolve outstanding issues in order to promote confidence and a peaceful resolution of the issue.

DPRK: We hope that all countries, including DPRK, would continue to work together to promote a peaceful resolution of the nuclear situation in the Korean peninsula. We consider that sustained dialogue, particularly the Six Party Talks, could be the best means to solve this problem and bring peace and stability in the region.

We strongly believe that as the global community focuses on non-proliferation, it must not loose sight of the bigger and equally important picture -- disarmament, including nuclear disarmament. Preventing horizontal proliferation and overlooking vertical proliferation does not give the right signal of seriousness to pursue nuclear disarmament.

On Terrorism

Bangladesh condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and opposes any attempt of linking terrorism with religion.

We take note that terrorist organizations have committed brutal acts of terror in almost all the regions of the world. Terrorist activities including those, which occurred in Bangladesh, have amply shown that mankind is facing threats. To combat this menace, joint efforts of all concerned States are necessary under the aegis of the United Nations.

Regional Cooperation

The present government is committed to maintain the positive momentum and credibility of SAARC, to promote its socio-economic mandate, to create a broad-based climate of confidence building and to reduce tension in the region. SAARC retains a positive potential for economic cooperation and remains a basic harmonizing force for confidence building within the region and beyond.

The most compelling challenges facing South Asia are eradicating poverty, promoting sustainable growth, reform and development. All the South Asian countries therefore have a common stake in the future of SAARC. The last SAARC Summit in Dhaka has proven beyond doubt the resolve of the leaders of the region to ensure that SAARC evolves as a delivery mechanism catering to the needs of the teeming millions of South Asia. More and more people realize the significance of South Asia's huge emerging market, and its large and prospering middle class with good entrepreneurial, technical and scientific skills.

Our commitment to other regional forums, such as BIMSTEC, ACD, ARF and the Kunming Initiative is strong. We believe that regional cooperation can help us develop partnerships with countries that share with us similar development experiences and have potential for win-win cooperation. They also help us reduce our dependency on our traditional cooperation partners by widening market opportunities and generating greater flow of investment into the country.

Look East Policy

Look East Policy aims to adds depth and new dimension to our traditional relations with the Asian countries, to learn from their development experience and best practices, and to enhance trade and investment cooperation with these countries that were able to take significant advantage through liberalization and participation in the global trading regime. To a great extent we have been successful in our quest. We have found new markets. The increasing export figures to the expanding Asian economies demonstrate the success of the Look East Policy.

Economic Diplomacy

Globalization offers challenges and opportunities. Added thrust on economic diplomacy is a must for securing investment, opening up trading opportunities and safeguarding our interests as the WTO rules and regulations are elaborated. This is a long term and continuous engagement, and sustained efforts are necessary.

Bilateral Relations

Neighbouring countries have a special place in our foreign policy. It is Bangladesh's unwavering policy to maintain close relations with all its neighbours on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs as well as settlement of outstanding bilateral issues through meaningful dialogue and negotiation. The present Government has given due importance to our two neighbours, India and Myanmar and tried to build on the friendly relations.

Moving on to our neighbourhood, our relations with China are very important to us. I had a very meaningful visit to China a few months back. This visit, like all my previous visits to China, is something I looked forward to. The constructive engagement with the Chinese leadership had been useful in strengthening our friendly relations.

We have dynamic and multifaceted relations with the United States. Our constructive relationship covers many aspects, from trade and investment to development cooperation to governance issues to promotion and protection of human rights and democracy, and of course cooperation in combating extremism and terrorism which is widely acclaimed by the world community.

Our relationships with the European countries are quite matured. We have virtually no issues of contention between us. The agenda is driven by trade and development cooperation, as you can also imagine. More than 50% of our export is to this market of critical importance, with the trade balance heavily in our favour. Recently, I had visited a number of European countries and the EU Headquarters and held fruitful engagements on our cooperative relationships. In recent months, the European countries are also attaching greater importance to Bangladesh, especially for our role as a moderate Muslim majority democracy and our role in peacekeeping operations.

The importance of the media in projecting achievements and identifying shortcomings is undeniable. Informing the global community of the rich heritage, diverse social milieu, harmonious coexistence and the potentials that we have in Bangladesh can help us in nation building and ensuring prosperity, stability and progress for each and every Bangladeshi.

In conclusion, therefore, I hope you, the overseas correspondents, would help achieve Bangladesh its goals through your constructive writings and projection in the media. In the area of information gathering and dissemination, I wish you would use your skills to put information in proper context and identify trends and signals in a way that cater to our national objectives in this challenging and changing global milieu.

Thank you very much.