Can Myanmar-Bangladesh joint strategic engagement ensure regional peace?

cant in letting the three countries come together in tackling the transborder security threat

The BGP hosted the eighth edition of this top border conference, where several hours of discussion were held recently Bangladesh wants a ‘peaceful’ and ‘crime-free’ border through the building of mutual trust Issues related to recent border tension, including airspace violations, transnational counter-terrorism and criminal activities, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, which subjects among others were on the priority list in the discussion The meeting also discussed joint patrolling and trust-building exclusive economic zone close to St Martin’s Island in 2008, Bangladesh too came dangerously close to having a maritime conflict But the current issue really began in 2017 with the exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar thing In addition to civilian diplomacy, the Bangladesh government has taken a step forward in solving the border and Rohingya crisis through successful military diplomatic activities

It must be of no surprise that in special circumstances, a country’s military diplomacy plays an instrumental role in managing foreign relations armed forces were prepared to act if Myanmar s troops continued to fire across the border while pursuing the Arakan Army Tatmadaw, the military of Myanmar, has been engaged in combat with the AA in northern Rakhine State, close to the Bangladeshi border Since August, Bangladesh has complained to the international community about fighter jet and drone flights over its territory as well as mortar and machine gun across the border

At a battalion-level flag meeting between BRB and BGP decided to improve bilateral relations between the two countries, the Myanmar side regretted the recent incidents of shelling

Atwo-day regional commander-level meeting between border forces of Myanmar and Bangladesh began in Teknaf of Cox s Bazar in Bangladesh on Wednesday to strengthen mutual relationships

In a press release the Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters said that the meeting would discuss ways of checking drug smuggling stop trespassing trans-boundary extremism border security and joint patrolling Bangladesh s BGB s Cox s Bazar regional commander Brigadier General Nazm-UsSakib led a 15-member Bangladesh delegation comprising representatives from the Foreign and Home Ministries Department of Narcotics and other concerned authorities Myanmar Border Guard Police commander Brigadier General Htet Lwin led the Myanmar delegation The Myanmar delegation was given a guard of honour after their arrival in Teknaf

The talks concluded with the signing of a joint record of discussion on Thursday and the Myanmar team left Cox s Bazar in the evening

The Border Guard Bangladesh in the meeting on Thursday called for maintaining peace and curbing trans-boundary crime The Bangladeshi side also urged building mutual trust between the two forces The meeting is very significant for all regional countries when Myanmar and Bangladesh are trying to resolve the Rohingya crisis through a pilot project the security situation along the Myanmar-Bangladesh-North East India s border is being destabilized by various groups Thus the meeting is very signifi- measures On October 26 Myanmar’s special operations commander Lt Gen Phone Myat visited Bangladesh’s army chief Gen S M

Shafiuddin Ahmed in Dhaka in an apparent attempt to improve relations and boost regional security Bangladesh filed diplomatic complaints after fighter jets and drone flights violated its airspace and mortar shells landed on its territory several times between August and September last year The topics of discussion at the conference included de-escalation of the tense situation at the border caused by the recent internal conflict in Myanmar combating inter-state terrorism and preventing the activities of cross-border criminal gangs prevention of illegal infiltration prevention of drug and human trafficking enhancing mutual cooperation to increase security at borders exchange of various information related to borders conducting joint patrolling organising regular coordination meetings/flag meetings at the region and battalion levels repatriation of detained/punished citizens of both countries repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their original abodes and increasing mutual trust between BGB and BGP

There had always been tension along the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar Along the 271-km sea and land boundary between the two nations the two have a history of conflict For instance a border battle with the Myanmar military in 1978 necessitated the deployment of Bangladeshi troops along the border When Myanmar sent out its naval ships to place a Korean drilling rig in Bangladesh’s

The entire world is aware that in 2017, more than a million Rohingya refugees sought safety in Bangladesh These refugees have been hosted by Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds To maintain regional stability, the Rohingya refugee situation must be solved Bangladesh is under great pressure due to the current Rohingya crisis In dealing with this crisis the country has had to face and continues to face some new diplomatic realities It suddenly discovered that some of its long-time friends were no longer with it It has largely failed to achieve the expected results by applying traditional diplomatic methods to resolve the crisis

Therefore there is a need for new thinking in the successful application of the various methods of modern diplomacy such as economic diplomacy military diplomacy or cultural diplomacy Military diplomacy is a special strategy among the strategies used by various countries to protect the country’s interests and strengthen the state’s diplomatic position in the international arena and both its influence and application in the current world are increasing

What did Bangladesh do at that time?

First and foremost Bangladesh found a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the tension it currently experienced at the border with Myanmar There has never been any notion that it can resolve the issue through violence or armed war But diplomatic action alone is insufficient

It must be supported by deterrents because deterrents are what give diplomatic actions bite Some international experts have also contended that the military balance is likely skewed in favor of Myanmar making it challenging for us to demonstrate an effective level of deterrence However Bangladesh made an effort to make sure that its diplomatic actions have a solid foundation In an effort to deliver protest notes to the Myanmar ambassador the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has so far used diplomatic channels It hasn’t changed any-