Foreign Affairs Adviser to the interim government Touhid Hossain said, adding that Bangladesh has not received the expected support from its neighbors in the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
He said this while addressing the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) conference at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Saturday (November 16) morning.
Tauhid Hossain said, “In the last eight years, we have not received the support we expected from our neighbors, our big neighbors.”
Explaining the geopolitical complexities, the Foreign Affairs Adviser said, “The question arises, why is China not coming forward to solve the problem on behalf of Bangladesh? Because Myanmar is very important to them for the Bay of Bengal. Similarly, India also feels that the Kaladan project is important and it is necessary to maintain good relations with Myanmar for this project.”
The Kaladan Road Project connects Kolkata in eastern India with the Sittwe seaport in Myanmar’s Rakhine State by sea. Touhid Hossain said that Bangladesh is caught in a vortex of competing geopolitical interests.
The foreign affairs adviser said, I am not blaming anyone, everyone looks after their own interests. But it does not seem to be in line with our interests on the Rohingya issue and because of this the matter has been prolonged and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Stating that he does not think that the Rohingya problem will be solved very quickly and easily, Touhid Hossain said, but one thing I would like to mention here is that if this problem is not solved, it will become a problem for the rest of the world.
Highlighting the growing concern about the future of the Rohingya youth, the adviser said, it cannot be that the young generation, who have no hope for the future, will sit idly and watch what others are doing. There will come a time when they will become a serious problem not only for Bangladesh but also for our neighbors and other countries.