Despite American ambivalence during our war of
liberation, Bangladesh
and the United States
have over the last four decades forged an exceptionally close partnership based
on shared values and outlook. Like all good friends we have not surprisingly
had our differences of opinion -- each side has its own national interests to
advance -- but the bonds that tie us are enduring and deep; and the
relationship is based on deep mutual respect and a community of purposes. The
two countries are committed to plural democracy, diversity, secularism and
tolerance; a robust civil society as a seedbed of democracy; and an
uncompromising attachment to the values of inalienable rights and freedom.
Based on these values the two partners have worked shoulder to shoulder in many
international fora and have fought together, along with other countries of the
United Nations, for preserving international peace and to prevent oppression,
discrimination, and violation of human rights.
To the US, Bangladesh is the "standard
bearer of South Asia" -- as recently described by the Wall Street Journal
-- and an exemplar for the developing and Islamic societies as a moderate,
progressive, liberal democracy passionately committed to social justice and
empowerment of women. The US
government has particularly lauded our efforts to promote connectivity and
sub-regional cooperation and our determined effort to combat extremists and
terrorists. The closeness of our ties is reflected in the stature that the
prime minister is accorded in many of his foreign policy priorities of
President Obama. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has emerged as a powerful but
moderate voice in the debate on global warming and shared the platform with the
US
president. She has been able to use her prestige to influence, moderate and
leverage the support of the developed countries to stem the horrors of climate
change. Not surprisingly Bangladesh
is a partner of choice for the US
in many of the foreign policy priorities of President Obama: global food
security, global health access, engagement with the Islamic world and global
warming. It has not escaped the notice of the observers that at a time when the
US
has cut back development assistance to many countries the volume of aid to Bangladesh has
increased significantly. The US
government appreciation of Bangladesh
as a pioneer and model for tackling large challenges like food, energy, water
and environment crises was reflected in Secretary Clinton's offer to provide
technical and financial support for sub-regional development projects. It is
not accidental that there have been more high-level civil, military and corporate
US
visitors to Bangladesh
in the last three years than in the previous ten. The significance of the visit
of Secretary Hilary Clinton has to be viewed in this context.
The decision of the Secretary to come to Dhaka at a time when Washington is so totally gripped by US presidential
campaign is a testimony the importance that the US attaches to its partnership with
Bangladesh.
The visit enabled the two countries to review the entire gamut of the bilateral
relationship and to concert our views on a number of international issues. The
decision to sign an agreement for a high level Partnership Dialogue -- a status
also enjoyed by India
and China
-- has helped to elevate US-Bangladesh relations to a new height. This will
further bolster our existing cooperation in strengthening democratic
institutions, fighting terrorism, money laundering, defense training and trade
and development ties.
There is no secret that a number of things on
our agenda could not be fully resolved. While the two countries have agreed in
principle to the TICFA -- Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum -- as we felt
we needed more time to complete the process. We impressed on the visitors the
compulsions for securing duty free access to the US market for some of our products
so that we could reduce our dependence of foreign aid. Although the decision
rests with the US Congress, we were all satisfied that we now have a powerful
ally in Secretary Clinton on our side. We also pressed for our inclusion in the
Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) based on significant improvements in our
social, economic and political indicators. To our great satisfaction the
secretary invited Bangladesh
to present its case to the committee in Washington
DC.
Perhaps largely because of our own inability to
communicate our vigorous and free media sadly missed the real significance and
outcome of the visit and remained focused mostly on peripheral issues. Much has
been made of the "advice" given by the secretary for a dialogue with
the opposition parties. Let me state the facts. In bilateral meetings between
sovereign states, domestic issues are not a part of the agenda. We did not
discuss internal issues and we are not aware if the honourable leader of the
opposition raised it during her meeting. As part of our efforts to strengthen
democratic institutions and processes we shared our efforts that we have made
to strengthen the electoral system to secure free and fair elections and to
ensure an environment where the voters will be able to exercise their franchise
without fear or intimidation. The secretary's call for a dialogue was fully in
accord with our own views and we welcomed her appeal against the boycott of
elections by any party.
The media infatuation with Nobel Laureate
Professor Yunus's meeting with the secretary was no surprise. For over a year a
large part of the media has reduced the multifaceted US-Bangladesh relations of
over four decades based on shared values and interest to a single issue of
Grameen Bank. There is no question that Professor Yunus is held in high esteem
internationally as indeed here, and there is no denying of his long-standing
association with both President Clinton and Secretary Hilary Clinton, but it
would wrong to conclude that our bilateral relations hinges solely on this
single fact. Secretary Clinton is an enthusiastic supporter of the microcredit
experiment and was interested in learning more about the performance of Grameen
Bank. The fact that the Bank has endured the transition -- the number of loans
has not declined, the rate of loan recovery is as impressive as in the past,
and that there was no run on the bank or withdrawal of deposits -- was obvious
to a well- informed secretary. No names were ever mentioned in the discussion.
The concern, if any, was about the institution of microcredit.
The visit was by any standards a success --
"it exceed our expectations" was how an US official described it to me --
and we should celebrate the success of Bangladesh-US partnership and focus on
how we can further deepen the relationship to our mutual benefit. Diminishing
the substance by magnifying the peripherals is not the hallmark of objective
journalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment