South Asian affairs expert Michael Kugelman has said Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus’ participation at the 79th UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September will be a big opportunity for him to share his government’s economic plans, including what areas specifically the international community can be helpful in strengthening and stabilizing Bangladesh’s economy.
“And if he does, he would be speaking in New York on the biggest global platform since he took over the role of adviser leading the interim government,” Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. said in a webinar hosted by Right to Freedom – R2F.
Kugelman said there are several things that Prof Yunus could do, several things that he could say.
“I think that above all he should lay out a vision for governance, the goals of the interim government, his plans for reforms and his efforts to push for the restoration of democracy.”
Right to Freedom Board Member Jon Danilowicz moderated the webinar while Right to Freedom Executive Director Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey gave a brief introduction of the panel of speakers and Ambassador (retd.) William B. Milam, Board President of the R2F, offered opening remarks.
Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Fahmida Khatun, Secretary, Citizens for Good Governance, Dr. Badiul Alam Mazumdar spoke at the webinar which aimed to foster conversations on critical aspects of Bangladesh’s new journey under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Kugelman said he thinks that Prof Yunus’ platform at the UNGA would give him an opportunity to weigh in on what is arguably Bangladesh’s biggest humanitarian challenge, the Rohingya refugee issue.
“I think that it would be useful for him to make a pitch for international assistance or more international assistance for Rohingya refugees, which would be an especially important pitch for two reasons,” he said.
One – the war in Myanmar is intensifying in a big way, and it was seen in recent weeks’ fresh inflows of Rohingya refugees coming into Bangladesh.
Second – international donor attention has been drawn elsewhere, due to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, among other places.
“And so I think there is a risk that the Rohingya crisis, which has received significant levels of international attention and donor support in recent years, but there still is a risk that it could be overlooked. So I think that the UNGA would be a really good opportunity for Prof Yunus to reorient attention around that challenge,” said the expert.
Kugelman said foreign policy will not be the uppermost priority for the interim government in the next few weeks.
The biggest priorities will be issues of law and order, economic stabilization and reform, among other things, he said, adding that, “That’s not to say that there are no urgent foreign policy priorities right now.
“There are. And in particular, the relationship with India,” he said.
He thinks it is very important to talk about how the interim government in Bangladesh should approach its international relations.
He said the government has both advantages and disadvantages as it approaches its foreign policy.
In terms of the advantages, what it has in its favor – “the Yunus factor.” “I think it is something that we really need to underscore here. He is a star abroad. He’s a household name. He’s deeply respected. And he really will not have to work very hard at all to get the world’s attention or the world’s respect.”
Also, he said, Bangladesh is a significant global economic player and a nonaligned state, a geo-strategically important country in an era of great power competition.
“And this means that much of the world will want to engage with the interim government,” Kugelman said.
Bangladesh still has a significant degree of political uncertainty right now and this is something that has made and will continue to make a number of world leaders and capitals a bit nervous.
“And also the law and order situation, which may be more stable now than it was several weeks ago, but remains tenuous. This is something that will have impacts on global investors, among others, in terms of how they perceive Bangladesh right now,” Kugelman said.
Above all, he said, it would be very useful to reach out to and reassert the importance of ties with Bangladesh with its wide range of commercial economic partners.
Kugelman said Bangladesh is a country that has a significant role in the global economy and it has a wide range of partners across the board.
This includes sponsors of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, like China and Japan. It includes key trade partners like the EU and of course the US. And it includes energy suppliers in the Middle East, among other things.
“And I think that diplomatic outreach is especially important now, given that the economic situation in Bangladesh is quite precarious,” he said. Bangladesh, for example, will need to show in very concrete ways that it is taking the right steps on restoring law and order and security, Kugelman said.
Prof Yunus, with his reputation in the West as a fervent supporter of democracy, can be an asset in this regard.
“But Bangladesh’s government, I think, will really need to show that it is truly committed to restoring democracy and human rights. And speaking of Dr Yunus, he will have a big opportunity very soon in the next few weeks, at the UNGA meetings, which I understand he will be attending,” he said.
