Bangledesh Position Paper

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                                                   BANGLADESH POSITION PAPER

In contrast to the experiences of much of south and central Asia, Bangladesh has yet to pursue peace through direct intervention. We have a longstanding position of diplomacy before military intervention, which has aided us in achieving peaceful, if not heated, conclusions to our dealings with fellow nations India and Pakistan. Given our diplomatic relationship with India, and the aggression aimed towards them by the Taliban, For example, we are in support of pursuing action against the Taliban to eliminate the threat they pose. We can however only support action in the form of negotiation, education, and aid. This stance is a result of recent civil unrest in Bangladesh and our position as a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) state. At this time, the majority of our population would be opposed to any direct military intervention against a fellow SAARC state such as Afghanistan.

It is important to us to be able to ensure the stability of our own government before trying to force the stability of another.  As such, we support the empowerment of the local warlords in war-torn countries to defend their regions through force from insurgency. We do not however support the arming of these factions, merely the consent to pursue their own means to protect their territories. Furthermore, we strongly believe that negotiations should be pursued with the warlords to determine if a compromise on laws and territories can be reached. Assuming no agreement can be reached, we are willing to provide supply chain and medical support to U.N. and North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) forces operating to maintain global peace.

In a nutshell, it is in line with logic to conclude that Bangladesh respects the sovereignty of other states even when in pursuit of peace. Our government does not subscribe to interventions that would jeopardize another State’s Sovereignty. Our sole goal as a state is to support peace enforcers both materially and morally but not through direct intervention.