US engagement in Indo-Pacific not against any country: Miller

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller has said their engagement in the Indo-Pacific is not against any country and it is not designed to make anyone to choose between countries, noting that the US is not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocks.

While delivering his keynote speech at a virtual dialogue hosted by Cosmos Foundation, he said Bangladesh is a sovereign independent nation that decides itself what organization or partnership it chooses to join.

“The United States wants Bangladesh to succeed. We seek to grow the US-Bangladesh partnership because we believe it’s in the best interest of both our people,” said Ambassador Miller.

The Ambassador said their engagement in the Indo-Pacific is about advancing an optimistic vision that they have their participation and partnership in the region.

Cosmos Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, hosted the dialogue titled “Bangladesh-US Relations: Prognosis for the Future” as part of its ongoing Ambassadors’ Lecture Series.

The opening remarks were delivered by Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan. The session was chaired by Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a renowned scholar-diplomat and former Advisor on Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Caretaker Government.

Distinguished Fellow & Board Member at Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Ambassador Farooq Sobhan, President of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Major Gen (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, Honorary Advisor Emeritus, Cosmos Foundation Ambassador (Retd) Tariq A Karim and former Principal Secretary to PM Md Nojibur Rahman comprised the panel of discussants.

Ambassador Miller said they share the goal of building a more prosperous, secure and interconnected Indo-Pacific region.

The United States, he said, is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to address the challenges if they have intense disagreements in other areas.

“And we welcome the opportunity to work with our regional partners to create a prosperous path towards a shared future based on freedom, good governance, respect for international law and transparency,” he mentioned.

Enayetullah Khan said having had the opportunity to observe the relationship over the last 50 years, and seen it ebb and flow, or even at times standstill, “I myself remain convinced that the strongest tool we’ve in our combined armoury are the extensive people-to-people contacts.”

He said direct government-to-government contact is of course helpful but these contacts over the years have always left something to be desired.

“Whether it’s indifference on the part of some administrations in Washington, or Dhaka’s inability to come to terms with the fact that Henry Kissinger is no longer crafting US foreign policy, governments I feel have always been confined in terms of how far they were willing to go,” Khan said.

Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury highlighted the importance and significance of reviewing Bangladesh-US bilateral relations with a view to discussing how these could be widened and deepened further to mutual advantage.

With regard to the US, he said, Bangladesh is very much in that country’s radar as a friend and partner.

As Bangladesh graduates out of the list of LDCs, Dr Iftekhar said, American support in obtaining market access will be critical in helping it grow and progress economically.

Bangladesh also must be able to learn to handle the complexities of dealing with America, he said, noting that the US is a unique system globally with many elements within that system both coordinate and compete with one another to contribute to policy making.

The challenge for Bangladesh’s diplomacy is to be able to identify appropriate elements of desired outcome and engage them, Dr Iftekhar said.

Former Ambassador Farooq Sobhan highlighted Washington’s deep concern and preoccupation currently with its relations with China, which in a sense, feeds into the QUAD, the Indo Pacific Strategy and more recently AUKUS.

“Where does a country like Bangladesh fit into this?” he said, adding that this will certainly appear to be a challenge for Bangladesh’s diplomacy, as indeed, Bangladesh’s ability to leverage its strengths in Washington.

Strategic Neutrality

Maj Gen (Retd) Muniruzzaman said one of the cornerstones of the great relationship between Bangladesh and the USA, as the Ambassador has also mentioned, is the Indo-Pacific strategy, given by the United States and many of his allies around the world.

He said Bangladesh does believe in the key principles of the Indo-Pacific strategy, as it shares the vision of an open, free and secure Indo-Pacific.

“But at the same time, we’d also like to mention here that we want all our partners and friends to respect Bangladesh’s position of strategic neutrality because we’ve got friends all around the world, in the regions and in other parts of the world, and we don’t want any awful relationship which excludes others,” said the analyst.

Strategically, Muniruzzaman said, Bangladesh is a key partner - not only on a regional scale but in the scale of the Indo-Pacific strategy and internationally.

“I would like to point out that very often we find that Bangladesh is viewed through the lens of India, and that’s the approach that I strongly recommend should be avoided and Bangladesh should be viewed as all its own entity and on its all-geostrategic importance and its own position,” he said.

Muniruzzaman said maritime cooperation is a key area for partnership as Bangladesh is a key strategic maritime nation. “We’re a Bay of Bengal nation. We’re an Indian Ocean nation. Bangladesh’s strategic location provides a unique position and strength to Bangladesh as a key strategic access provider to the Bay of Bengal or access denial to the Bay of Bengal.”The security analyst said these are Bangladesh’s strengths that must be fully explored and understood and therefore, joint cooperation should be brought around areas of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean area.

He said Bangladesh should be partnering more effectively with the United States in building capacity and meeting the non-traditional security challenges and laid emphasis on cooperation in the areas of energy security, science and technology, R&D and cyber security.

Stating that Bangladesh is a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region due to its geographical location, noted diplomat Tariq Karim said, “We’re at the epicentre of an Indo-Pacific that pre-existed before the advent of British Colonialism, even before any of the present powers thought about it.”