European Union (EU) Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific Gabriele Visentin on Friday said their strategy is all about “cooperation not confrontation.”

“So, this strategy is also about scaling up and diversifying our political and economic partnership across the Indo-Pacific. We want to uphold international law and multilateralism,” he told diplomatic correspondents during an interactive session at Jatiya Press Club.

He said EU wants to deepen their cooperation with democratic like-minded partners.

Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) organized the session attended by Deputy Head of Mission of the European Union to Bangladesh Jeremy Opritesco, DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus and its General Secretary AKM Moinuddin.

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The special envoy said the EU’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific is to cooperate whenever possible but to protect whenever necessary.  

He claimed that their strategy is inclusive and open to all their partners wishing to cooperate with the EU and it does include China.

Visentin shared “tripartite engagement” with China, saying they see China at the same time as a partner, as a competitor (on economic front) and as a rival.

“We see China’s involvement is necessary on issues of global interest,” said the special envoy, noting that the recently held COP26 is a very positive example of engagement with China.

He also said, “We don’t have a problem with the competitors. We’ve problem with them who don’t respect the rules of the competition.”

The special envoy said that in many areas, such as climate and biodiversity for example, China’s cooperation is essential.

He highlighted seven priority areas for EU action - sustainable and inclusive prosperity; green transition; ocean governance; digital governance and partnerships; connectivity; security and defence and human security.

“A big priority will be our cooperation on global challenges from the pandemic to climate to digital. We want to enhance our digital partnership with the partners in the region,” he said, adding that they will deepen their security engagement with Asia seeking to make that cooperation as concrete as possible.

For example, Visentin said, by strengthening the capacity of partners on maritime and cyber security.

He said connectivity is a big issue and probably the main backbone of their strategy that also seeks public-private partnership.

Talking about the pillar of security and defence, he said, they very much want to strengthen their presence in this area.

Responding to a question, the EU special envoy said the Rohingya issue is not just a bilateral issue, not even a matter of something among the EU, Bangladesh and Myanmar. “It has to be tackled globally.”

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He appreciated Bangladesh’s generosity for hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and said this should not be seen as a permanent solution but should be seen as a temporary solution until the situation and conditions allow them return to their homes in Rakhine state of Myanmar.

Turning to Ukraine crisis the EU special envoy thanked Bangladesh voting in favour of the latest UNGA resolution on humanitarian grounds and mentioned that Bangladesh's position will strengthen international efforts to address the “dire situation” in Ukraine. “We would like to acknowledge and thank Bangladesh for the stance that it took.”

He said they all have to enter into a crisis management mechanism and all have to act for a ceasefire with a guarantee that the humanitarian corridor is truly ensured.

In reply to a question the envoy said the EU is not afraid of Russia.  

 He said most of the countries’ priority is to see an end to the war and to provide humanitarian assistance.

“This (war) is not an option. We don’t want to consider it. We’re trying to do anything possible to solve it,” said the EU envoy.