Staff Reporter:
Newly appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir yesterday said Bangladesh would pursue it’s bilateral and multilateral engagements from a “position of strength”, aiming to elevate the country’s global visibility and influence to new heights.
“We will build our relations … bilateral relations, multilateral relations … from a position of strength,” he told journalists at the foreign ministry after completing his first day in office as state minister.
Humaiun said the government would now move into the next phase of its diplomatic engagements by adding greater substance to Bangladesh’s relations with its international partners.
“We will be now in the next phase putting the content around our bilateral relations and we will be hopefully taking this country’s visibility, influence of our country to great new heights,” he said.
The state minister said Bangladesh’s diplomacy would seek to establish the country as a recog-nized source of soft and medium power and influence on the international stage.
“We can take Bangladesh into a new horizon where Bangladesh is a country that is recognized for good soft, medium power and influence,” he said.
The state minister also reaffirmed his commitment to safeguarding Bangladesh’s interests in con-ducting the country’s foreign relations, saying his position on Bangladesh’s interests should leave no room for doubt.
“I don’t think there is anybody that will question my Bangladeshism and my stand,” he said.
Humaiun expressed optimism that, under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Bangladesh would draw greater engagement from global stakeholders and enhance its standing internationally.
He said the country’s emerging role and leadership were being viewed positively, expressing hope that Bangladesh would be able to translate that goodwill into stronger international engagement and greater global influence.
Referring to his first day at the ministry, Humaiun said his initial engagement involved interacting with officials and familiarizing himself with the personnel and the working environment.
However, he said the foreign ministry itself was not unfamiliar territory for him as he had already worked closely with its senior officials during his tenure as adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs.
On Sunday, the government allocated responsibilities between State Ministers for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir and Shama Obaed Islam, MP.
Under the allocation, Humaiun Kobir, designated as State Minister for Foreign Affairs-1, will deal with bilateral and multilateral affairs, issues concerning non-resident Bangladeshis and any other matters assigned by the foreign minister.
Shama Obaed Islam, designated as State Minister for Foreign Affairs-2, will oversee matters related to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, human rights, re-search and innovation, environment and climate change, creative economy and Bangladesh’s graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
Her responsibilities will also include information and communication technology (ICT), law of the sea and marine resources, global health diplomacy and cultural and sports diplomacy.
