In a major recalibration of its foreign policy, Bangladesh has officially confirmed that it is conducting direct talks with both Myanmar’s military regime and the ethnic Rakhine armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), to break the protracted deadlock over Rohingya repatriation to Arakan State.
“The government has formed a committee to formulate a national strategy on the Rohingya issue. Under this committee, we are talking to the Myanmar government as well as establishing contact and holding discussions with the Arakan Army,” said Shama Obaed Islam, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, at a policy dialogue hosted in Dhaka on Nov. 8.
Shama Obaed Islam warned that it is “naive” to expect repatriation to materialize through traditional diplomatic channels alone, adding that domestic actors in Myanmar share a broad consensus against permitting the Rohingya to return.
She called on all Bangladeshi political parties to unite in pressing the international community to counter this resistance and formally recognize that the Rohingya belong in their homeland and have an inherent right to return.
The open acknowledgment of formal engagement with the AA marks a decisive diplomatic pivot for Dhaka, aligning with ground realities in Arakan State where the armed group seized 14 of the state’s 17 townships, confining the Myanmar military to fortified coastal pockets in the state capital Sittwe, the deep sea port of Kyaukphyu, and the island of Manaung.
Former interim government adviser M Sakhawat Hossain delivered a candid strategic assessment, asserting that India will not assist Bangladesh in resolving the crisis.
“We must maintain good relations and negotiate with the Arakan Army, either directly or through third parties,” said M Sakhawat Hossain, a former interim government adviser and a retired Brigadier General.
Hossain also urged Dhaka to actively explore a proposed economic transit corridor involving China, contending that deeper regional infrastructure integration could provide Bangladesh with vital economic and political leverage to compel stakeholders to facilitate safe, sustainable Rohingya repatriation to Myanmar.
NEW AGE
