Insights

The Chittagong Hill Tract region continues to be engulfed in a state of conflict with the indigenous hill people and the Bengali settlers pitted against each other. One of the major reasons for the persisting conflict can be attributed to the lack of sufficient political will and an un-accommodative attitude of the Bangladeshi ruling elites, including the Awami League. Given the nature of the conflict, the attending ethnic question should be seen in the broader context of democratic governance. The socio-economic development of indigenous people of CHT region should be integrated into the priorities of the Bangladesh government and the reconciliation and integration process must ensure that the indigenous people of the CHT are granted their constitutional rights.

Bangladesh has drawn the attention of the international community for the enormity of threat posed by climate change and steps undertaken by the government to reverse their impacts. In a major development on September 29, the United Nations (UN) conferred Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the “Champions of the Earth” (Policy Leadership category) award for 2015

As a landlocked nation, Mongolia has shared its boundaries with two feuding and at times competing countries; China and Russia. To seek an independent role in international affairs , Mongol strategic thinkers articulated the “third neighbour” policy to develop new partnerships with several countries including India.

The Russia-Bangladesh relations have begun to flourish following Sheikh Hasina’s assumption of office for the second time in 2009. The bilateral relations cover diverse areas of cooperation including, defence, energy, science and technology, trade and culture. Russia has emerged as a key development partner of Bangladesh which seeks to achieve middle-income status by 2021 and become a developed nation by 2041