Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar received a positive spurt with Dhaka's assurance to the visiting Myanmar foreign minister, U Win Aung, that Dhaka will not allow its territory for use by any power to harm Myanmar.
"Non-interference in the internal affairs of another country is our principled stand", said Foreign Secretary Shamser M Choudhury while briefing journalists about the
talks held yesterday between the two foreign ministers in Dhaka.
The visit follows relentless pressures from the US and many Western nations on Myanmar to set free the captive pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and to improve human rights condition.
The foreign secretary maintained that Dhaka obtained commitments from the visiting Myanmar foreign minister to take back the stranded Rohingya refugees; to move ahead with the construction of the Dhaka-Yangon
highway; and to obtain Myanmar's diplomatic support for Bangladesh's membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The foreign secretary also confirmed that the Myanmar FM handed over a letter to the Bangladesh PM on behalf of the Myanmar PM.
While the foreign secretary declined to disclose the content of the letter, The Daily Star has learnt that the letter sought assurance from Bangladesh that Bangladesh's land, air or sea will
not be allowed for use by any country for military purpose against Myanmar.
Dhaka and Yangon share common goals and interests in many regional issues and the relations between the two neighbours have mostly been on an even keel. The relationship was further cemented by the visit of the Myanmar PM to Dhaka and a return visit by the Bangladesh PM to Yangon in recent
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Bangladesh shares 243km land border with Myanmar along the strategic Naaf river that divides the two countries near the shore of the Bay of Bengal.
The foreign secretary said Myanmar expects Bangladesh to be the first country to obtain membership of the ARF. "We unequivocally support your membership in the ARF", the foreign secretary quoted the Myanmar FM as saying.
The meeting between the two foreign ministers made progress in threshing out various details for the construction of the Dhaka-Yangon road. Communications Minister Nazmul Huda's presence during the bilateral talks proves that the stalled Dhaka-Yangon road link issue might become very active in coming days.
The issue gathered dust for a while as India proposed a different route to connect India's remote North-East region through the proposed Asian highway.
On the question of political instability and human rights abuses in Myanmar, the foreign secretary said, "We want no foreign interference in Myanmar. We want stability, development, cooperation and wish Myanmar well."
Despite a spate of visits and counter visits between senior officials from the two governments, Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral trade is one of the lowest in the world. During FY 2001- 02, Bangladesh
imported US$ 18 million worth of goods from Myanmar while export to Myanmar fetched Dhaka only $ 2.40 million.
Yet, this snail-paced bilateral trading did not diminish the strategic importance of Myanmar to Bangladesh. Dhaka even hastened to prove the magnitude of the importance it attaches to Myanmar by sending its senior most diplomat to Rangoon (now Yangon) after Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971.
Dhaka is also mindful that Myanmar was supportive of Bangladesh's liberation war and was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh in 1972. "Our relationship is historical,' the foreign secretary reiterated.
The current Bangladesh stand not to allow any outside power to use it as a launching pad to harm Myanmar stems from the historic cordiality that the two nations have built over decades.
The high water mark of this relationship dates back to the 1961 signing of a non-aggression pact between then Pakistan and Burma.
A sense of complacency has also
gripped the two peoples ever since they negotiated over the common borders in 1980. The 1980 border agreement supplanted the old agreement signed in 1966.
Dhaka is hopeful that the final delineation of the maritime boundary between the two nations will take place pursuant to the principle of equity as was enunciated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the North Sea Continental Shelf case (1969).
According to the foreign secretary, the Myanmar FM assured Dhaka that the 20,000 or so stranded Rohingya refugees would be repatriated soon. "We're working with Myanmar and the UNHCR to finalise this issue," he confirmed.
The repatriation will take place as a follow -up to the already existent repatriation treaty that became effective on August 31, 1978.
The visit highlights the difficulties that the Myanmar military regime is facing amid diplomatic pressures and insinuated military threats from the US. The courting of Dhaka's friendship at this critical hour seems too important to Myanmar.
"Of course we want democracy in Myanmar", said the foreign secretary in response to a question. "But we oppose any kind of external intervention in Myanmar's internal affairs", he emphasised.
The Myanmar FM arrived in Dhaka on Saturday and left yesterday for Delhi. He is expected to curry the support for non-interference in his country's internal affairs from another of Myanmar's closest neighbours, India.