Maritime Affairs Unit (MAU) Secretary at the foreign ministry, Rear Admiral (retd) Md Khurshed Alam on Monday said Bangladesh is a key actor in the greater Indo-Pacific region with its strong position in the Bay of Bengal area.
“While geopolitical scenarios in the region have become more hostile and exclusive for Bangladesh, the region has special significance from our domestic consideration,” he said.
Speaking at a seminar on the “Indo-Pacific–Canada’s Strategy and Bangladesh’s Outlook: A Deeper Look into the Key Areas,” Khurshed said Bangladesh has emerged as a major maritime nation in the region.
Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Lilly Nicholls, among others, spoke at the seminar and had an in-depth discussion on the Canadian Indo-Pacific Strategy and Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook to identify areas of convergence.
The seminar, jointly hosted by the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and the High Commission of Canada in Bangladesh focused on Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) vis-a-vis Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook, identified possible coherences between the strategy and the outlook, and ways to further strengthen partnerships between Bangladesh and Canada in light of common shared values and interests between the two countries.
Khurshed said Bangladesh made it clear to the world that currently it is a significant player in the Indo-Pacific region and also a major stakeholder in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook, the MAU secretary said Bangladesh envisions a free, open, peaceful, secure, and inclusive Indo-Pacific for the shared prosperity for all.
Bangladesh considers stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific to be a “crucial factor” in realising the country’s Vision 2041. Being a littoral state of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh aims to be a modern, knowledge-based, developed country by 2041.
Khurshed said there is no inconsistency in the Outlook and there is no departure from the previous position. “Every country needs us as we also need them,” he said, adding that Bangladesh’s move was not criticised, rather welcomed.
He observed that the Indo-Pacific has become an area of fierce strategic competition and economic dominance.
The MAU secretary said Bangladesh has been open to expanding cooperation in non-traditional security areas as many of the issues cannot be addressed without international cooperation.
However, when it comes to traditional security cooperation, he said, Bangladesh always maintained a cautious position.
The overarching objective of Canada's IPS is to promote a fair, open, stable, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, said the Canadian high commissioner. "It will also protect Canadian interest in the process," she said, adding that Canada is willing to collaborate with its partners.
Bangladesh is a key part of Canada's just launched Indo-Pacific Strategy and the North American country thinks it will usher in a new era of making it a long-term significant partner in the region, and Bangladesh is a key part of that strategy.
As the world treads through a changing geopolitical and geostrategic trajectory, Canada and Bangladesh continue to focus on their shared values and expand their areas of cooperation.
In this course of changing world realities, Canada’s desire to forge stronger economic ties with Bangladesh is not only welcome but deeply reciprocated, according to the concept note of the seminar. This makes the Bangladesh-Canada partnerships more important than ever before.
Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy offers a comprehensive framework for the government of Canada’s engagement in the region over the next decade. The first five years of the strategy include new initiatives and investments of almost $2.3 billion.
In 2026, the government of Canada will return with an update that will cover initiatives and resources for the years 2027-2032.
The Indo-Pacific encompasses more than 40 economies and is the fastest-growing region in the world.
It is Canada's second-largest regional export market and trading partner (after the United States); in 2021, it accounted for $26.5 billion in annual two-way agri-food and seafood trade, which accounted for 24 per cent of Canada's total exports in this sector.
The Indo-Pacific makes up more than one-third of all global economic activity and accounts for 65 per cent of the global population.
By 2030, it will be home to two-thirds of the global middle class, and by 2040, the region will account for more than half of the global economy.
