Bangladesh values ‘rights,’ seeks national dignity in foreign ties: Top diplomat

Bangladesh values “rights” and seeks national dignity in foreign ties, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said Saturday at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye, as he discussed democracy transition in the South Asian nation.

“The relationship with other countries should be mutually beneficial and should not be one-sided. So, that is the basic thrust of our policy,” said Rahman, who was appointed top diplomat after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a landslide victory in February’s general elections.

He said Dhaka’s foreign policy motto is “Bangladesh first.”

“It means that we will protect our interests in our dealings with all countries of the world and that is our red line, and we do all of this within a framework of respecting one another's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, liberty and national dignity,” said Rahman.

In response to the energy crisis due to the US-Israel war against Iran that has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz -- a major route for global fuel supply to most Asian nations, he said countries, especially the least developed, were affected.

“Only through collective action it could be normal,” he told the three-day Forum, which opened Friday.

“Some of our sources have been affected due to this war. If the Strait of Hormuz is not open … it will affect our energy availability, even if everything goes back to normal, it takes time for the market to be normal and the supply chain,” he said.

Due to the war, he said that governments are shifting development funds to salvage the crisis caused by energy shortages.

“Providing diesel for agriculture and irrigation, and fertilizer to farmers has become a challenge. However, (our) government … is trying hard to deal with the situation,” he added.

The Bangladesh government increased fuel oil prices late Saturday by up to Taka 20 ($0.16) to keep the supply system stable in line with the international market situation. The price will be effective Sunday, according to a notice by the Department of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

The last time Bangladesh hiked prices was Feb. 1.

According to the new price, diesel has been fixed at Taka 115 ($0.93) per liter, octane at Taka 140 ($1.14), petrol at Taka 135 ($1.10) and kerosene at Taka 130 (1.06).

Democratic transition

Reflecting on the democratic transition in Bangladesh, Rahman said for more than a decade, “we had a regime that flouted human rights, that resorted to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, fake elections.”

Now, he said, “stability has returned” through an election which was “fair, festive and most peaceful in our history.”

Bangladesh held the first elections this year after the government of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a popular uprising in the summer of 2024.

On his bid for the presidency of the UN General Assembly, Rahman noted his decades of experience at the UN and related institutions.

He is the presidential candidate of the 81st General Assembly.

If elected, he said his policy would prioritize vulnerable and Global South nations as well as reforms to the world body.

Appreciating Türkiye for the Forum, he said that he is “deeply impressed” by the event and wants to come back to next year's session.