Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantytskiy today said that regional architecture should be built on the principles of indivisibility of security, rule of international law, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of disputes, and non-use of force or threat of force.
“Unfortunately, we have recently witnessed persistent attempts by extra-regional forces to reformat the existing order to fulfil their own narrow, selfish objectives,” he said while speaking at a programme, “Talks with Ambassador”, at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.
The Russian ambassador said the concept of a “free and open Indo-Pacific region” promoted by the United States has destructive rather than unifying potential.
“Its true goal is to divide the states of the region into ‘interest groups’ such as QUAD and AUKUS, and weaken the multilateral principles of the regional system of interstate relations in order to establish its own dominance,” he said.
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Jatiya Press Club General Secretary Shyamal Dutta, Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Joint Secretary Khairul Alam, among others, spoke at the programme hosted by Swadhinata Sangbadik Forum. Bangla Tribune Diplomatic Correspondent Sheikh Shahriar Zaman moderated the session.
Talking about economic cooperation, the envoy said that Bangladesh is Russia’s second largest trade partner in South Asia after India.
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Even the COVID-19 pandemic did not hinder it; in 2021, trade volume reached the historic height of $2,97 billion, he said.
The ambassador said in 2022, western countries imposed “illegal” unilateral sanctions against Russia. “The subsequent breach of production and logistics chains led to a setback in Russian trade with foreign partners, including Bangladesh, which resulted in the trade turnover decrease by $640 million.”
Russian companies are ready to supply on G2G basis up to 1 million tons of grain, as well as 500,000 tons of potassium chloride per year, he said.
The ambassador said, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will make a considerable contribution to Bangladesh’s economic development and energy security.
“Russia’s engagement is not limited to building the facility; we will assist our Bangladeshi partners throughout the entire life cycle of the nuclear project, including our obligations for the long-term deliveries of reactor fuel, plant maintenance, and handling nuclear waste. Russia is helping to create an entire nuclear sector, a peaceful atom industry in Bangladesh,” he said.
The envoy said the full potential of trade and investment cooperation is yet to be fully tapped. “Now the situation is changing: from 2022, many international brands have decided to leave Russia. So, Russian business circles are reorienting towards new suppliers, including those from Bangladesh. Investments, both state and private, can amount to billions of dollars.”
He said Russian companies are ready to participate in various joint projects in Bangladesh, in sectors such as ICT, pharmaceuticals, space and geological research, maritime, railway and air transport.
“All these topics are planned to be discussed at the 5th meeting of the Russia-Bangladesh Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which we plan to hold in 2024 in the face-to-face format,” he said.
The Russian envoy said they have also noticed the plans to form a new trilateral political-military partnership between USA, Japan and South Korea, with a view to boost confrontation with China, Russia and the DPRK.
He said the possibility of a “merger” of these “triumvirates” is highly probable, which will obviously have a negative impact not only on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, but on the global security architecture as a whole.
“The US plans, recently voiced by Commander of the US ground forces in the Pacific Ocean Charles Flynn, to deploy Tomahawk, SM-6s land-based missiles and Tifon missile launchers in the region in 2024 cause concern too,” he said.
“The deployment of land-based Tomahawk missiles was prohibited by the 1987 Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missile Elimination Treaty until the US withdrew from it in 2019. Now there are no obstacles for Washington to implement such a measure,” he added.
The Russian ambassador said all these could lead to a new arms race in the Asia-Pacific region. “Obviously, it would be favorable to the United States military-industrial complex, which is already benefiting from bloated military budgets,” he remarked.