“Second Meeting of Track 1.5 BIMSTEC Security Dialogue Forum”

During the BIMSTEC National Security Adviser/Chiefs first meeting held in New Delhi, India on 21 March 2017, decision was taken to commence a Track 1.5 BIMSTEC Security Dialogue Forum. Accordingly, the first meeting of Track 1.5 BIMSTEC Security Dialogue Forum was organised at IDSA, New Delhi, India on 22 September 2017. In continuation of the process, a second meeting of Track 1.5 BIMSTEC Security Dialogue Forum was organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) on 30-31 July 2019 at BIISS auditorium. Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, rcds, psc (retd), Security Affairs Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister was present as the chief guest. Major General A K M Abdur Rahman, ndc, psc, Director General, BIISS, chaired the inaugural session and delivered the welcome address. Ambassador M Shahidul Islam, Secretary General BIMSTEC delivered the introductory remarks. Acting Foreign Secretary Mr. Kamrul Ahsan also delivered his remarks in the inaugural session.

In his address, Major General A K M Abdur Rahman ndc, psc, noted that as the largest bay in the world, the Bay of Bengal is of pivotal importance to the countries bordering it. Effective cooperation among the countries of this region will certainly lead to shared goal of a prosperous and more integrated region. In his remarks, Ambassador M Shahidul Islam mentioned about one of the priority areas of BIMSTEC cooperation is to restore the historical connectivity in order to promote trade and investment, tourism, people-to-people contact and cultural exchange to contribute to the sustainable development of this region. In his remarks, Acting Foreign Secretary Mr. Kamrul Ahsan emphasized on strengthening cooperation among BIMSTEC countries. In his address, Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, rcds, psc (retd) marked that Bangladesh has always shown firm commitment towards stronger regional cooperation and BIMSTEC is an outcome of that commitment. Keeping the existing and emerging traditional and non-traditional security challenges in mind, Bangladesh has been enthusiastic to promote stronger security cooperation through participatory processes. He hoped that Track 1.5 BIMSTEC Security Dialogue Forum will help to find out pragmatic means of cooperation among the member countries.

There were four working sessions. Nineteen foreign delegates from the BIMSTEC countries and designated local experts participated in the sessions.