After the revolution, the environment for talking has been created: Foreign Secretary

Jumbangla Desk: Sheikh Hasina's government fell in the face of mass uprising of students. After taking charge of the interim government, as part of the reshuffle in various positions of the administration, he took charge of the new foreign secretary. Jasim Uddin In the new context, h

Jumbangla Desk: Sheikh Hasina's government fell in the face of mass uprising of students. After taking charge of the interim government, as part of the reshuffle in various positions of the administration, he took charge of the new foreign secretary. Jasim Uddin In the new context, he is trying to fulfill the difficult responsibility of continuing contact with different countries and accelerating relations, gathering international support for the government's priorities and reform programs, and implementing Bangladesh's foreign policy in the light of the current reality.

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BCS 13th batch foreign cadre meritorious officer Jaseem Uddin has served as ambassador in China, Qatar and Greece. Besides, he served in various positions in Delhi, Washington, Tokyo and Islamabad during his long career.

He openly discussed with Jumbangla about the new context, challenges and opportunities of Bangladesh as the foreign secretary, priorities and working methods of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jumbangla: What are the priorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the interim government?

Md. Jasim Uddin: The interim government had to take responsibility for the special situation caused by the revolution of the students. The interim government has outlined its priorities over the past few months. Our priority is to implement the issues related to other countries to implement the priorities of the government.

The priorities of the interim government can be broadly divided into three.

The first is to take action on the immediate tasks ahead. These include medical assistance to those injured in the July-August Revolution, strengthening the economy, improving the law and order situation, etc.

The second is to continue activities on foreign affairs. It includes doing business with different countries, exporting manpower, talking about issues like climate change in the international arena, highlighting our position, working on Bangladesh's candidacy in various international forums, etc.

Thirdly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should play a role in the various reforms that are being carried out with the aim of ensuring accountability and transparency in the governance of the state in the long term.

The big difference in the present time than any other time is to change the governance system by ensuring accountability and transparency, establishing freedom of speech and other rights that citizens expect. Reforms to achieve this goal are a significant aspect of the activities of the Ministry of External Affairs. What is clear from our talks with other countries is that various countries are willing to help us to make the reform process fruitful. They are interested in this. During my visit to the United States, I have discussed with the officials of that country that they are ready to help us. Similarly, the United Nations, Türkiye, European Union and others have also shown interest in supporting our reform process. This support can be of various types. For example, any country and the United Nations can provide technical assistance for reforms. Or inform us about the best practices of those countries, or provide financial assistance in applicable cases, etc.


Jumbangla: What is the impact of the activities of the interim government on foreign policy ?

Md. Jasim Uddin: Socio-economic development, safety, security, control of law and order situation including domestic policy. Foreign policy is the policy of using foreign relations to implement those domestic policies. In other words, foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy.

You know there were questions about the governance of our state, its legitimacy, its fairness. Since democracy is for the people, it is necessary to look at this system from the perspective of the people. In a democratic system of governance, the citizens of the state have certain rights. These include freedom of speech, right to food, clothing and shelter, right to criticize the government if it is not doing well, etc. The opportunity to talk about these issues has been created after the July-August Revolution. A favorable environment has been created. The discussion taking place in this favorable environment shows that the people of the country are interested in reforms.

The main task of the interim government is to complete the reform and reform program and hand over power to a new government through free and fair elections. The more successfully the interim government can complete the reform process, the more successful the domestic policy will be and consequently the more effective the foreign policy will be.

In other words, the future foreign policy of Bangladesh depends on the success of the interim government. Foreigners are watching the Interim Government with keen interest and at the same time earnestly seeking assistance in this work. The intended result is that the success of domestic reforms will be one of the determinants of relations with foreigners in the next government that comes through the election. I think that reforms will be one of the aspects in our talks with different countries from now on.

For example, Bangladesh has less foreign direct investment than many of our competing countries. If the interim government can improve the business environment through reforms, foreign investment will surely come to Bangladesh. Foreigners are now looking to help improve the environment through reform programs with us. After this is done, when the next government comes in, it is expected that they will come to discuss foreign investment. Therefore, the success of the future foreign policy depends to a large extent on the success of the interim government.

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Jumbangla: What kind of challenges is currently facing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?


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Md. Jasim Uddin: Challenges in achieving anything have been, still are and will continue to be. The key is to turn challenges into opportunities and that is the biggest challenge. One of the main tasks of any diplomat is to try to find out how to turn any challenge into an opportunity to protect our national interests. It is not as if it is easily done.
Sheikh Shahriar Zaman


Monirul Islam

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