The United States wanted Bangladesh to become a ‘net security provider’ in the region in a ‘responsible way’, and wanted Bangladesh to be able to respond to natural disasters and other issues positively with its growing capabilities.
‘Bangladesh has made a lot of progress over the years, and we are proud to be part of that effort. We would hope that the Bangladesh government sees the Indo-Pacific Strategy as an opportunity to cooperate with us and our partners to help address some of Bangladesh’s security concerns,’ said Maxwell Martin, an IPS expert at the US embassy in Dhaka, on Thursday.
While briefing a select group of journalists at the embassy on ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy and its implications for Bangladesh’, he said that Bangladesh-US cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific was just one aspect of their wide-ranging bilateral relationship.
‘The US-Bangladesh relationship is driven by our nations’ shared history, common values, and future potential. It is not defined by India, China, Russia, or any third country,’ Martin said.
Responding to a question, he said, they look at their relationship with countries in the South Asia region and Indo-Pacific in general, on a bilateral basis.
‘We don’t look at our relationship with other countries through the lens of another country. This is something that we hear sometimes in Bangladesh, in the media and kind of just in the commentary, that the United States looks at Bangladesh through the lens of India. And I don’t think that’s true,’ said the IPS expert.
He said that they looked at their relationship with Bangladesh regarding a set of shared interests and bilateral priorities.
Martin said that the increased and renewed engagement with Bangladesh was part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Responding to a question, he said that the US wanted to ensure a free and open region, drive prosperity, build connections, bolster security and advance reliance.
‘We will remain engaged with the government of Bangladesh on all of these issues sets and make clear opportunities for partnership exist within all five pillars,’ said the IPS expert.
He said that the Indo-Pacific Strategy was a ‘positive, progressive vision, comprised of five equally important and interconnected pillars’.
Talking about the role of civil society, private sector, and academia for the promotion of a free and open Indo-Pacific, he said that they saw all of these entities and institutions playing an important role.
Martin said that the IPS was not aimed at countering China but was just a vision of how they thought the region should look and what they thought a region that was free and open, prosperous, secure, connected, and resilient should look like and how that could benefit the people and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region.
‘Of course, we have a China strategy. It’s separate from the Indo-Pacific Strategy and has to do with investing, aligning and competing. China is a major player here in the region,’ he said.
The IPS expert said that they wanted people to understand what the Indo-Pacific Strategy was as sometimes there was confusion about it.
‘We want to expand and grow our cooperation and engagement with Bangladesh. We always say we are ready to move as quickly as the government of Bangladesh is, and will continue to have those discussions,’ he said.
Responding to a question, he said that QUAD was not an alliance. ‘I want to emphasise that the QUAD is not an alliance. It’s not a military alliance. It’s a flexible grouping of nations with shared interests in the region. They can come together and think of ways to tackle issues and problems of shared interest in a variable way. So that’s what the quad is.’
Martin said that he did not think that the QUAD was something Bangladesh should be afraid of. ‘We understand that Bangladesh balances its relationship with us and others in the region,’ he said.
He said that they were very focused on the idea that good governance in Bangladesh equals prosperity. ‘That is one of the key goals of our political engagement here in Bangladesh,’ he said.
Martin said that they wanted to see a region where no country dominates and no country was dominated and this principle applies everywhere.
As the world’s most dynamic and fastest-growing region, the Indo-Pacific is a leading priority for US foreign policy and essential to shared global security and prosperity, he said in his opening remarks.
The US welcomed the release of Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook in April 2023. ‘We have many common interests and look forward to engaging in them, particularly in building inclusive economic prosperity and environmental and social resilience in the face of 21st-century transnational threats,’ he said.
‘The US Indo-Pacific Strategy is not a military alliance, nor does it seek to become one. It is defined by what we stand for, not what we are against. It is not a club one can join, but a vision shared by any nation and people,’ Martin said.
‘Our vision is not about forcing countries to choose between the United States and any other partner. It is about ensuring that the region is free and open so countries can freely make their own choices,’ he added.
The US Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in February 2022, lays out a commitment and shared vision for an Indo-Pacific region that is free and open and becomes ever more connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.
‘Many countries and peoples in the Indo-Pacific share aspects of this vision for the region. When we work together, we can build a better future together,’ he said.
Regarding relations in the region, many countries, including the United States, have vital economic or people-to-people ties with China that they want to preserve.
‘Every nation will navigate its bilateral relations and interests differently. We do not expect every country to have the same assessment of China as we do,’ Martin said.
President Biden has made clear that the United States and China can and should work together on global challenges like climate change, macroeconomic stability, health security, and food security.
‘We seek to manage competition in the US-China relationship responsibly and are determined to avoid confrontation or conflict,’ said the IPS expert.
However, managing competition responsibly takes willing parties, he said, adding that it requires strategic maturity to accept that they must maintain open lines of communication even as they compete.
Martin said that the United States worked closely with partners to ensure the Indo-Pacific region remains free, open, and accessible, to build connections within and beyond it, to drive regional prosperity, to bolster regional security, and to advance regional resilience to 21st-century transnational threats.
‘There are many specific examples of this work in Bangladesh and across the region,’ the IPS expert added.
