Conference held on Pakistan-Bangladesh relations

KARACHI: The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) held a roundtable conference on Pakistan-Bangladesh relations to discuss the wavelength of bilateral intensity and analyse recent history from individual context, a statement said.

The guests from Bangladesh included Brigadier General Sakhawat Hussain (Retd), Dr Tanvir Ahmad Khab and Farooq Ahmad.

IPRI’s President Ambassador Dr Raza Muhammad (Retd) presided over the session attended by IPRI Director Research Brigadier Raashid Wali Janjua (Retd), Brigadier Naveed Ali (Retd), Dr Salman Aneel, Ambassador Asif Durrani (Retd) and others.

The visiting dignitaries recalled the collective history of erstwhile undivided Pakistan, and eulogised its good old days. They highlighted the hospitality aspects as well as the shared concerns of the community, and how they have a lasting impact to this day.

The guests underscored that Bangladesh’s biggest contribution since its independence in 1971 is to invest in human resources and ensure the access of education to all.

They said that women workforce is at the vanguard of development, and no discrimination is made on the basis of gender. It was pointed out that more than 80 per cent of women are industrious and have made an invaluable contribution in rejecting religious prejudice and taboo-oriented stigmas.

The speakers from Bangladesh observed that civilian supremacy is the reason behind the success story of Bangladesh, while noting that though Dhaka had episodes of martial law too, it was people’s quest for democracy that triumphed.

It was also highlighted that the South Asian state has more than 100 exclusive economic zones, which has brought its exports and domestic produce to new heights, helping its forex reserves climb up to $44 billion.

Another of Bangladesh’s uniqueness is that it believed in decentralisation, and had experimented with an effective local government structure, coupled with the continuity of policies, zero-tolerance to religious extremism and rule of law that helped rebuild a modern Bengali nationalist state.

The speakers expressed deep concern over the rise of Hindu fundamentalism in India, and feared that it would have a regional spillover. It was also noted that Bangladesh is home to a large number of Indian diaspora, and they are critical to the socio-political vibes of the country.

It was also noted that the abolishment of feudalism way back in 1950s by the political intelligentsia of the then East Pakistan had dividends in building a strong civil edifice.

The IPRI president noted that there are valuable lessons to be learnt from Bangladesh, and the cooperation between the two countries is in the need of being maximized. There is a lot of potential in trade and economic amalgamation, and that needs to be tapped, he added.