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Politicians and former diplomats at a dialogue on foreign policy in the city on Thursday said that Bangladesh could not present a strong foreign policy due to lack of consensus since its independence in 1971.

Although the foreign policy of a country is one of the most vital components for building up relations with other countries, no significant reforms have been carried out at the foreign ministry for the past 54 years, they said.

‘There is a lack of consensus within the country, which is required for a strong foreign policy,’ Bangladesh Enterprise Institute president and former ambassador Humayun Kabir said at the discussion as part of the ‘Dialogue for Democratic Reconstruction’ organised by the Centre for Governance Studies at the CIRDAP auditorium.

‘We have failed to establish a strong foreign policy and political actors often use external forces to undermine their opposition,’ he said.

‘We must remember that foreign policy is a two-way street, we only decide half of it; the other half is determined by the country we are negotiating with,’ he added.

He asked whether the interim government was able to convince international community about the new Bangladesh they wanted to build.

Touching upon democratic reconstruction, former state minister Abul Hasan Chowdhury said that the public should have the right to decide which projects their tax money would fund.

Diaspora communities should have representation in parliament, he suggested, observing that this government had formed many commissions, but none on foreign policy. ‘We must build a strong relationship with China,’ he said. 

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies president retired Major General ANM Muniruzzaman said that the aspirations of the July uprising had not been reflected in the foreign ministry.

‘To restructure, we must remove the collaborators of fascism within the foreign ministry. The private sector must be included in foreign policy. Bureaucrats alone won’t suffice,’ he said.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson’s advisory council member Zahir Uddin Swapon said that there should be a shift in political culture which would create a harmony in terms of foreign policy.

He said, ‘We are an import-based economy. Our sources of foreign currency are remittances and the RMG sector and for exports, we rely heavily on the United States and Europe. We’ve become increasingly dependent on loans.’

There is no alternative to SAARC for strengthening regional relationships.

Dhaka University professor of Public Administration Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah said that the United States previously urged Bangladesh to normalise relations with Israel. ‘Now, this could be included within a non-disclosure framework, leaving us with no room to act,’ he said.

Retired ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmed said, there needs to be consensus among political parties regarding foreign policy.

He said, ‘Establishing relations with Israel does not automatically improve our ties with the United States. Foreign policy depends on our internal strength. Therefore, we must set clear political and economic directions.’

Retired diplomat M Shafiullah, Jatiya Party secretary general Shameem Haider Patwary, AB Party chairman Mojibur Rahman Monju, security analyst retired Major Md Emdadul Islam, ambassador Shahidul Islam, Naitik Samaj Bangladesh retired Major General Amsa Amin, Ganosamhati chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, Nationalist Democratic Movement chairman Bobby Hajjaj, chairperson and founder of the Centre for Non-Resident Bangladeshis M S Shekil Chowdhury, Gono Odhikar Parishad president Nurul Haq Nur and CGS executive director Parvez Karim Abbasi, among others, spoke at the discussion moderated by CGS president Zillur Rahman. 

Zonayed Saki underlined the need for making decisions based on national interest. ‘Negotiation is extremely important at this stage to safeguard those interests. For that, a proper political framework needs to be established,’ he added.

Nurul Haq said that before shaping foreign policy, they must work to strengthen the country’s domestic politics.