Dhaka for 'specific timeline' to repatriate Myanmar nationals

Dhaka will put forth its position even as it wants to give the
bilateral relations "a boost" resolving irritants.

Myanmar's Deputy
Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw will lead his side at the foreign secretary level
meeting, known as 'Foreign Office Consultation'.

Foreign Secretary Md
Shahidul Haque will lead Bangladesh side at the eighth of its kind
talks.

A senior official of the foreign ministry told bdnews24.com that
border management, Rohingya repatriation, trade, connectivity and gas import
issues would be some of the topics that would dominate the talks.

The
official, who will be present at the meeting, seeking anonymity, said they would
propose an "umbrella agreement" with Myanmar to settle unresolved issues,
Rohingya refugee is one of them.

Bangladesh gave shelter to thousands of
refugees who fled the Rakhine province after sectarian clashes over the
years.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, put the number in Bangladesh at over
200,000 with 30,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps –the
Kutupalong and Nayapara – within 2 km of the Myanmar border.

According to
some estimates more than 500,000 living outside the camp in
Bangladesh.

The foreign ministry official said they would ask Myanmar to
take back the documented nationals from the camps.

"We are aware of their
human rights situation in Rakhine state, but we are a small country," the
official said.

"We want to settle our bilateral issues bilaterally," he,
however, ruled out any plan of seeking help from regional countries in this
regard.

The foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali recently at a discussion
termed Myanmar an "important partner" of Bangladesh in international
collaboration, and said they would continue their efforts to increase
ties.

He cited the regional grouping BIMSTEC – the Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation – which has
both Bangladesh and Myanmar as members.

The talks on the proposed
economic corridor under the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) were underway.
Bangladesh is planning railway links from Chittagong to Kunming through
Myanmar.

A new idea of forming a Bay community with Bangladesh, India and
Myanmar particularly after resolving the maritime boundary dispute is also
growing.

Bangladesh is also contemplating partnership with India and
Myanmar to exploit its marine recourses in the Bay of Bengal as it lacks both
technology and knowledge in this regard.

The issue of importing gas from
the Shwe gas field in Rakhine state will also be discussed in the
meeting.

A consortium of China, India, Myanmar and South Korea's Daewoo
has developed the field and about 800-km line has been set up to pipe the gas to
Kunming.

Bangladesh already received positive nod from China to get the
supply while officials said they would try to convince others in this
regard.

Md Shahidul Haque recently at a discussion on Bangladesh-Myanmar
said they want to solve the problem without blaming each other.

"We need
to decisively and aggressively go and solve it," he said in May before the
earlier date of holding this foreign office consultation on June
18.

Later it was re-scheduled on Aug 31 on Myanmar's request.

The
foreign secretary earlier said Naypyidaw responded positively to Dhaka's
proposal to have "security dialogue" to discuss "the problems in the bordering
area".

An official who has knowledge of the consultation said the
proposal would be discussed in the meeting.

Once agreed, both sides would
be able to sit for talks on any issues, the official said.

The meeting
would discuss holding regular meetings between the chiefs of the two border
guards like those between Bangladesh's Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India's
Border Security Force (BSF).

They will also discuss building regular
communication mechanism with the civil administrations of the border districts
on both sides.

Talks on renewing a cultural exchange agreement which
expired two years ago will take place apart from a draft agreement on protection
and promotion of investments.

"Basically we are ready to do everything to
address trust deficit and enhance co-operation engagements," the official
earlier told bdnews24.com.

He said Bangladesh had already addressed
Myanmar's security concerns.

The border guards conducted raids on
locations that Myanmar suspected to be hideouts of its rebels.

Myanmar
provided the government a list of the locations upon Bangladesh's
request.

Bangladesh also conveyed its "zero tolerance" against terrorism
and extremism for regional as well as international security.

He said
Bangladesh wants to discuss everything with Myanmar in "an open manner" to
settle all irritants, a gesture that Bangladesh repeatedly
signalled.

Bangladesh had allowed Myanmar's frigate for the first time
last year to use Naaf River to go into their part of the lake.

The
frigate stayed in Myanmar water bordering Cox's Bazar region for a month and
went back.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has visited Myanmar
while there have also been exchanges of visits between Bangladesh and Myanmar
armed forces.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/dhaka-for-specific-timeline-to-repatriate-myanmar-nationals/