***Amb. M. Humayun Kabir, retired Career Diplomat and Vice President, Bangladesh Enterprise Institue and Professor Amena Mohsin, Dept. Of International Relations, University of Dhaka, give their reaction to The Daily Star on the Times Now report suggesting possible stationing of the US 7th Fleet in Chittagong and new military strategy of the US which will see the majority of US warships move to Asia-Pacific by***

I don't think the political government of Bangladesh will allow a US base in Chittagong and I would stand by that. It is not possible and there is a clear provision that we won't provide the US with base in Bangladesh. But there has been a misunderstanding amongst the people regarding this. We have been hearing from before that

the US has been asking for a base in St. Martin's and even in the recent visit of Hillary Clinton there has been talks about a security umbrella, but what would be done was not clearly spelt out. The terms and conditions of the partnership dialogue should have been stated out in details as the age of secret diplomacy is over. I am quite perturbed by the report aired by the Indian television channel. Although the US has said that India will work as an anchor but right now Bangladesh is negotiating with the US on a one-to-one basis and the basis of dialogue should be like this and not via any other media. We stand on our own. At a moment like this, such news aired from India has created substantial damage to the domestic environment of Bangladesh which leads to the kind of perception created amongst the people towards the US. This was totally uncalled for. Bangladesh government should ask for an explanation from the Indian authorities especially from the news channel which aired such news items.

We should keep in our mind that the US is a super

power and they will try to keep their influence worldwide. Since the US is withdrawing from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq and as far as I know they are taking a kind of big base in Australia and already has one in Guam. That means they are trying to further expand their influence in the Asia- Pacific region. There can be two points; one is to what extent we can deal with the US will depend on the strength of our foreign policy. For this Bangladesh has to negotiate on a one-to-one basis and to serve this purpose a domestic consensus is necessary. In India, though the politicians are equivocal on domestic politics, they have consensus when it comes to foreign policy. But we don't find any consensus among our political parties especially between Awami League and BNP that impedes to reach a united position in terms of foreign policy. It is essential to have a long term vision for a stable foreign policy. We should deal with the foreign policy issues basing on domestic consensus through giving our diplomats some sort of independence in their endeavours. I am not surprised at the US move. The US is a super power and they will definitely contest China's growing influence. It depends on Bangladesh how it will play out of the contest between the two super powers. China has been a long term ally of Bangladesh and we cannot afford to lose their friendship. So the efficiency of our diplomats is needed in order to deal with the game.

We should not allow ourselves to be a pawn between the US and China neither can we allow ourselves to be played by India. We are going to progress and negotiate on a one-to-one basis.