Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said any conflict or crisis affects every nation in the world as security dynamics in the current world are ever changing and getting complex day by day.
“It significantly hampers the security and steady development of the states,” she said.
The prime minister was speaking virtually at the opening ceremony of the 46th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) 2022 held at a hotel in Dhaka.
The United States is the co-host of the event along with the Bangladesh Army and the US Army Pacific Command involving 27 countries.
She mentioned how the 1.2 million Rohingyas driven out from their homeland in Myanmar are affecting Bangladesh where they are sheltered now.
“Apart from their own miseries, their prolonged presence is causing serious impact on the economy, environment, security and socio-political stability of Bangladesh,” she said.
The prime minister said that 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. It also paved the way for civil and military diplomatic channels of communication, dialogue and summits,” she said.
She said that the IPAMS is a similar multinational platform that can create a sense of friendship and warmth so that peace and stability prevail in the region.
She said that the IPAMS has always played a significant role in maintaining friendship, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think interaction through this forum will enable us to discuss issues of common interests for arriving at pragmatic multilateral solutions.”
Sheikh Hasina said that the army of any country is one of the key elements for ensuring sovereignty.
“Born through the War of Liberation in 1971, the Bangladesh Army has developed significantly over time,” she said.
Today, she said, Bangladesh is well known around the world for her great contribution to peace support operations.
She mentioned that the Bangladesh Army is always ready to serve the country and for world peace in UN missions and anywhere in the world.
She said that it is the 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.”
The prime minister said that in the last 50 years of its independence, Bangladesh underwent huge transformations in its socio-economic fronts.
The country is now recognised by the international community as a “development miracle” for its success, especially in terms of poverty reduction, food and energy security, gender parity in primary and secondary school, reduction in infant and maternal mortality rate, and gender equality, she added.
Sheikh Hasina said that as Bangladesh believes in the benefits of peace and has focused on the strength of the people, economic and social progress have been possible.
“We have always maintained friendly relations with global and regional partners taking the strength from our foreign policy. This has allowed us to grow as a nation and gradually empowered us to claim our rightful position in the comity of nations.”
She said that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamt of a developed and prosperous ‘Golden Bangladesh’.
The prime minister said her government has been working to materialise Bangabandhu’s dream by turning Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country by 2041.
Bangladesh Army chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed delivered the vote of thanks.
