Bangladesh wants peaceful resolution of Indo-Pak tension through dialogue

Bangladesh wants an immediate and peaceful end of the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan through dialogue, said Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain on Sunday.

He also made it clear that Dhaka is not in favour of taking any initiative in advance for mediation unless both parties desire it.

The foreign adviser said it while talking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When asked about Bangladesh’s stance over the current Indo-Pak crisis, he said, “Our position is clear—we want peace in South Asia. We are aware that India and Pakistan have had conflicts and complex relations over various issues for a long time. But we do not want any major conflict to arise that could pose a danger to the people of this region. We maintain good relations with both India and Pakistan.”

The adviser added, “We hope they will resolve their issues through dialogue. We have already seen that a few countries have offered to mediate. Whether through mediation or bilateral talks, we want tensions to be reduced and peace to be maintained.”

In response to a question about whether Bangladesh could play a mediating role, especially since Iran and Saudi Arabia have already offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, Touhid Hossain said, “I don’t think we should take any mediating role at this moment. We would prefer that they resolve their issues among themselves. If they seek our assistance—if they say, ‘Please mediate’—then we might consider stepping in. But before that, we do not want to take any initiative.”

When asked if the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan could have any impact on Bangladesh, the adviser said, “In the present-day world, everything affects everyone to some extent. So, I wouldn’t say that we would be completely unaffected. However, their conflict has no direct impact on us because we have not taken any side. That said, in matters of trade and commerce, any conflict or deterioration in relations can have effects.”

He added, “If we have any important interests with them, we will continue with that.”

On the question of whether additional security measures have been taken at the Bangladesh-India border, the adviser said, “Those who work directly with security matters would be better positioned to answer that. At this moment, I have no such information.”

Asked about the Bangladesh government’s position regarding contact with the Arakan Army, he said that establishing contact with the Arakan Army becomes inevitable as they are in control of the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

So though they are non-state actor, we have to contact them due to the reality, and as we cannot contact them formally, informal contact was made, he explained.

He also said that Bangladesh, in principle, agreed to the UN-proposed aid corridor to Rakhine State for humanitarian reasons, but it has tagged some conditions.

If these conditions are met, the corridor can be okayed, he said.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com