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position as in the case of Ukraine. India can play a positive role in the growing tension between the US and China now that it is the chair of G-20.”

Former and current diplomats and dignitaries participated in the discussion.

“Bangladesh has to maintain good relations with India. It has to -- because it [India] is a big neighbour. As a fundamental rule, you must have good relations with a big neighbour and at the same time you also need to have good relations with China,” he said.

It will be extremely dangerous for Bangladesh if two elephants push each other, referring to rising tension between India and China.

“On the other hand, there is a tremendous opportunity for Bangladesh. And I say opportunity because Bangladesh has an advantage as it has a leader who has been in power for 14 years.”

“You have to have a very well-established leader who has a secured position and can make a difference. There is an opportunity [for Bangladesh] to quietly push India to improve relations with China and push China to normalise relations with India,” he said.

If at all it has to be done very discreetly.

According to him, India is situated in geopolitical sweet spot. The world is not happy about the US-China contest, they want the US and China to push the “pause button” on their deteriorating bilateral relations and focus on global problems, especially on climate change.

He pointed out that most countries of the world did not side with either as they don’t want conflict but strengthen cooperation.

“Bangladesh should be very careful in dealing with this matter,” he said in response to a question of Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming whether Bangladesh can play any role in India-China relations.

Responding to another question, he said democratic backsliding does not depend on the global geopolitical contest, it depends as much on domestic conditions.

“So, if you have a government that does a good job, managing equal rights and improving peoples’ lives, then the democracy become strong.”

But democracy weakens when governments fail.

President and Distinguished Fellow of Cosmos Foundation and former advisor to the caretaker government Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan also spoke.

Distinguished Fellow and Board Member of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Ambassador Farooq Sobhan, PM’s former principal secretary and Chairman of Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) Nojibur Rahman; The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, President of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Major General (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, Chairman and Chief Executive of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) Dr Zaidi Sattar, Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan, Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Heru Hartanto Subolo, Senior Research Fellow at BIPSS and Head of Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research (BCTR) Shafqat Munir and Head of English Web, Prothom Alo Ayesha Kabir, among others, joined the dialogue.