Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook focuses on inclusive development: Shahriar

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has said Bangladesh believes that cooperation and collaboration among countries in the Indo-Pacific region are essential for the shared prosperity of all.

He said: “Our Indo-Pacific Outlook is an attempt to tell the world that the region is for common prosperity, not just for those who live in it, but also for the whole world.”

He was speaking at an international seminar on ‘Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook: Opportunities and Way Forward’ at BIISS auditorium on Saturday.

As a littoral state of the Bay of Bengal, the state minister said, Bangladesh’s appreciation of the Indo-Pacific narratives is based on her foreign policy dictum “Friendship towards all, malice towards none,” set forward by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He further said, a “free, open, peaceful, secure and inclusive” Indo-Pacific is essential for peace, security, stability and growth in the region and beyond.

“Thus, our Indo-Pacific outlook is not security-centric, rather we focus on inclusive development of this region. It is not about critical choices between the major powers,” the state minister added.