Foreign Secretary Masud BinMomen left for Washington for secretary level talks on Wednesday

 SheikhShahariar Zaman(Dhaka Tribune)

April4, 2022 1:52 PM

Bangladeshis seeking to buy advanced military equipment as part of its “Forces Goal 2030”to enhance its security capacity and modernize the military.

TheUnited States seems to be the top choice for suppliers and a meeting at thesecretarial level between the two countries is set to be held onWednesday.

Onone hand, the US is the best supplier of military equipment but any defencedeal with the country requires the signing of the General Security of MilitaryInformation Agreement (GSOMIA) with various clauses, not to mention the steepprices of the weapons and equipment themselves.

Onthe other hand, Russia supplies advanced equipment for cheaper but given thecircumstances, there remain reservations of sanctions from the US, if Dhakaenters into a defence deal with Moscow.

Wednesday’stalks between Bangladesh and the US will comprise of four sessions that willaddress several issues including countering terrorism and civil securitycooperation, regional cooperation, peacekeeping and most importantly securitycooperation between the countries.

BangladeshForeign Secretary Masud Bin Momen left for Washington on Sunday. He will holddialogues with US State Department’s Under Secretary for Arms Control andInternational Security, Bonny Dennis Jenkins. 

This is the first secretarial level meeting between the twocountries.

“The talks on April 6 (Wednesday) will be the eighth withthe US. Previously all meetings were held at the director-general level,”Secretary Masud Bin Momen said.

“It’s a good sign that the US hasthis time sought the participation of the foreign secretary and principal staffofficer of the Armed Forces Division,” he added. 

Security cooperation key focus

The dialogue will address anumber of topics but the key focus will be the security cooperation between USand Bangladesh. It will include discussions on “Countering America’sAdversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)”, “Forces Goal2030”, “GSOMIA” andmaritime security and . 

CAATSA allows the US to imposesanctions on any country that enters into large scale transactions, especiallydefence agreements, with Iran, North Korea, and Russia. This has hampered theprocurement of high-quality multi-role combat aircraft “Sukoi” and otherweapons from Russia. However, Myanmar is still sourcing high-quality weaponsfrom Russia.

“Several issues, including theRohingya crisis, Covid cooperation, counter terror and combatting extremism,will be discussed during the security cooperation dialogue,” Secretary Momensaid. 

The session will also discuss howto improve patrol and training techniques, coast guard cooperation, securityand peace in the Indo-Pacific region and other related topics. 

Recently, US Under Secretary ofState for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland handed over the draft for theGSOMIA during her Dhaka visit. 

According to Secretary Momen,Bangladesh was still vetting the US draft. 

“It’s a long process,” he said,adding that multiple other steps are remaining until a decision could bereached. 

‘RAB Sanctions a big challenge’

The US and Bangladesh havereached a consensus on many issues but there still remains some issues wherethe countries differ and that will be a challenge, says the foreignsecretary. 

One of the biggest challenges,according to Momen, is the sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). 

“When the topic of quellingterrorism comes up, we have to tell them that the sanctions on RAB is nothelping,” he said. 

Responding to queries on theUkraine situation, he said: “We will talk according to our policies.”

“In a world of polarization, wehave to find a way to maintain good relations with everyone,” he added. 

The foreign secretary said thatthe US might have reservations about the Indo-Pacific and Bangladesh willdiscuss it with the stakeholders.

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