Bangladesh Bangladesh has no military ambitions

[Isa Khan]

State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam, on Friday said Bangladesh has no military ambitions nor aspires to emerge as a regional power.

The state minister came up with the remark while replying to journalist’s queries before the inaugural ceremony of Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) at a hotel in Dhaka. Journalists questioned him over hosting the Indian Ocean Conference and the involvement in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In replying to these queries, Shahriar Alam said the philosophy of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina is to bring happiness for all. There is still 18 per cent of poverty. When the prime ministers or presidents of other countries of the region meet, a discussion is carried out on how to improve people's lives. This is the regional purpose.

Saying the country is implenenting its foreign policy carefully, Shahriar Alam said, "We accept the good advice from the civil society. That is not a problem."

Talking about IOC conference, he said, "The fastest growing economic regions in the world are the Indian Ocean countries or Asia. Discussions are going on and will be held over the stability of the region, economic cooperation, communication and how we can help one another during the unexpected natural disasters."

State minister said representatives from 25 nations are joining the conference. However, Myanmar was not invited because the country's government is not recognised by the rest of the world. But other big countries were invited.
When asked whether China was invited, he replied in the positive, adding their representatives are supposed to attend the conference.

Bangladesh has no military ambitions

State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam, on Friday said Bangladesh has no military ambitions nor aspires to emerge as a regional power

en.prothomalo.com

 

[F-6 enthusiast]

Bangladesh has no military ambitions nor aspires to emerge as a regional power.

No one is asking for BD to be a military 1st country , just do the bare minimum to ensure deterrence and sovereignty.

These ''journalists'' should ask him why MNAF were allowed to violate our airspace more than 28 times
wonder what the response will be ?

We are still stuck with the foreign policy of the seventies , that in combination with our meek posture and ill-educated diplomacy (more like appeasement) has caused the Rohingya crisis to worsen.

 

[Deliorman]

As a country of 170 million Bangladesh has the potential to be a big player on the regional stage but for me it will be wisest to just try to develop the country as much as possible and as fast as possible. Develop the economy, the infrastructure and the human potential of the country, create a strong industrial and educational base and at the same time invest your military budget wisely- 4,8$ billion is really not a small amount.

 

[PutinBro]

This is a normal response as he was asked about IOC and BRI.More or less SOP for BD politicians whenever they're asked about involvement in the Sino-US matters.

However it's true that BD certainly doesn't have any aspirations to be a major military power.

 

[yf120]

No one is asking for BD to be a military 1st country , just do the bare minimum to ensure deterrence and sovereignty.

These ''journalists'' should ask him why MNAF were allowed to violate our airspace more than 28 times
wonder what the response will be ?

We are still stuck with the foreign policy of the seventies , that in combination with our meek posture and ill-educated diplomacy (more like appeasement) has caused the Rohingya crisis to worsen.

Exactly, words from my mouth. Without a dedicated defense minister, I don't think we will ever be able to ensure deterrence and sovereignty or teach people the importance of these basic things. And these ''journalists'' have zero or probably a minuscule level of knowledge about defense.