Although the Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) on Saturday handed over the BGB member Mizanur Rahman’s body after three days of the killing, a tense situation prevailed along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border over the incident till Sunday, according to locals.
However, Bangladesh Foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, replying to questions on the sidelines of the launching ceremony of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) photo exhibition at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital on Sunday, said tension along the Bangladesh border with Myanmar has cooled down.
The Myanmar side has already returned the body Nayek Mizanur Rahman, he said, adding, “Tensions in the border have been eased… We’re moving forward our usual activities with the neighbouring Myanmar.”
Mahmood Ali said the Bangladesh-Myanmar relations are undergoing many significant changes in recent times and many ‘new ideas’ are being incorporated in the relations.
He suggested not to talk too much about what has happened, as the government wants to concentrate on taking the relations with Myanmar forward with a broader engagement.
“We’ll do whatever is needed,” he said, mentioning that a delegation led by Director General of Border
Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will go to Myanmar on June 9 to have discussion with Myanmar.
In this context, he also mentioned the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor initiative and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to which Myanmar is also a party.
The foreign minister termed the BCIM Economic Corridor a ‘Southern Silk Road’ which he considers as a way to bring in huge potentials for all. “We’re trying to enhance our engagement of cooperation with Myanmar. I’m sure you all also want it.”
He said the Foreign Office Consultations between Bangladesh and Myanmar will be held in Dhaka on June 18 to discuss all the related issues at length.
State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan, on the other hand, on Sunday said misunderstanding led to the clash between members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
He came out with the remarks while talking to reporters at his office after a meeting on the protection of whistleblowers with the law enforcement agencies.
Asked about Myanmar’s deployment of force along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the state minister said, “BGB is enough for our border. We could have used force but we want to maintain good relations with the neighbouring countries. We don’t see the need of deploying army.”
