Bangladesh is talking about joining a new mutual-defence pact that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed in Mecca this month — a NATO-style pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir told reporters the idea was “being viewed positively.” “If there is a security arrangement among Islamic nations in the Middle East, it is not unusual for us to consider participating,” he said. A Bangladesh foreign ministry source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had invited Dhaka, without saying when. When The Daily Star asked Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam, he said he was not aware of any invitation or any decision to join. The Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani embassies in Dhaka did not immediately comment.
The three countries signed in the Saudi holy city on 7 August, as Iranian missile fire moved across the Middle East. Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army, has said the pact is open to expansion. More than 90 percent of Bangladesh’s population is Sunni Muslim. Kobir said the invitation was aimed at “the leadership of Bangladesh, particularly Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.” Rahman has been in office about six months. The economy still runs on garment exports to Britain, the European Union, and the United States, and on remittances from workers, mainly in the Middle East. Formal alliance membership, geopolitical analyst Kollol Kibria told Reuters, would not automatically break ties with India, China, Iran, Japan, the Gulf states, Russia, or the United States — “but once Bangladesh joins a military bloc, the question of which side Bangladesh is on becomes much harder to avoid.”
India is the sensitive neighbour, because Pakistan is a founding member. Rahman’s government has asked New Delhi to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and has not yet decided on a visit. India’s foreign ministry has said only that it is closely following the Mecca pact and the wider situation in West Asia. Dhaka has not said yes. It has not said no. It has said the invitation looks, from one minister’s chair, like something to consider.
Sources: The Daily Star (Reuters).
