Dhaka's ties with India, Pakistan, USA, EU on even keel: Iftekhar

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Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has said Bangladesh's relations with both India and Pakistan in the subcontinent and the USA and the European Union nations in the West are already set "on an even keel".
"Our policy is to have stable relations with our neighbours and greater cooperation with development partners," he said talking to UNB at his office on performance of the foreign ministry in the past six months under the interim regime.
The Advisor, a veteran diplomat who was Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations, viewed that to ensure country's development and protect its sovereignty, foreign policy has to be used as a major tool. And, for that reason, "it is critical to project the nation abroad as a responsible international actor."
Chowdhury said this is precisely the Foreign Ministry has been seeking to do over the past six months and "we like to believe that we have done it with considerable success".
"For instance, our relations with both India and Pakistan in the subcontinent and the USA and the European Union countries beyond our region are already on an even keel," he observed.
The Advisor said since the Foreign Ministry is the main window for the government to the outside world, it is also its duty to "assist the government in meeting international standards even in terms of domestic policy".
With this in view, Chowdhury said, the Foreign Ministry played a key role in the signing of Convention on Anti-Corruption, the file on which had gathered dust in government offices for years. It is also the key to the process of setting up a National Commission on Human Rights.
He mentioned recent ministerial-level visits from China, India and Myanmar when bilateral trade and economic cooperation figured prominently.
Replying to a question, the Advisor, however, said, "Of course, we are not perfect. But the responsibility of every government must be to strive to be better."
Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the Expatriate Welfare Ministry, said over the six months the ministry has located some new markets and dispatched over 365,000 workers abroad.