Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University (NSU) have jointly organized a seminar titled ‘Bangladesh’s Approach towards Emerging Alliances in Asia’, a press release said Tuesday.
National security experts, academics, and international strategists gathered at the seminar
They urged Bangladesh government to identify the key areas of interest in order to achieve the country’s economic and development goals within the developing Asian alliances.
The participants noted that Asia is becoming the center of politics, economics, and culture, and that Bangladesh must overcome the challenges of being part of security alliances amid growing competition between global and regional powers.
The seminar was presided over by Professor Dr. M. Ismail Hossain, Pro VC of NSU, and moderated by professor Sk. Tawfique M. Haque, director of the Center for Peace Studies.
The special guest was Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md.KhurshedAlam, secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The seminar was divided into three interrelated sessions, with papers presented on Bangladesh’s relationship with the Indo-Pacific, the Belt and Road Initiative, and ASEAN.
Dr. M Jashim Uddin presented a paper on ‘Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific,’ discussing the new security concerns posed by the Indo-Pacific’s strategic location, but also the opportunities it presents for Bangladesh to make politico-leverages on its preexisting alliances and seek out new ones.
IWAMA Kiminori, the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to Bangladesh, Brig. Gen. M. Sakhawat Hussain, senior fellow, SIPG, NSU, and Dr. Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau, assistant professor, NSU was present in the seminar as discussants.
Dr. Lailufar Yasmin, professor and chairperson of the Department of International Relations at University of Dhaka, and ShanjidaShahab Uddin, research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.
Dr. Mahbubul Haque, from the faculty of Law and International Relations at University Sultan Zainal Abidin in Malaysia, presented a paper on ‘Bangladesh and the ASEAN,’ with the discussants observing that ASEAN now presents an opportunity for greater participation on the continent through economic and security partnerships with regional and global powers.
Professor Dr. M. Ismail Hossain, Pro VC of NSU, emphasized the importance of following the ‘Friendship Towards all, Malice towards None’ doctrine in securing the country’s economic and development objectives within the emerging Asian alliances.