Bangladesh will help Korea fight terrorism
By Kim Hyo-jin
Muhammad Zamir
Bangladesh is committed to working closely together with South Korea in the fight against terrorism, a former Bangladeshi vice foreign minister said.
“We are all against terrorism. Bangladesh has very close relations with South Korea in fighting it,” said Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador to Korea and secretary of the Bangladeshi foreign ministry, during an interview on Friday.
Bangladesh ― the world’s third-most-populous Muslim-majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan ― is willing to help in efforts to counter radical Islamic ideology and acts of terrorism, he said.
His remarks came in the wake of a series of killings of foreigners in the country, for which the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility.
South Korea, for its part, is seeking to increase counter-terrorist efforts following reports that IS has listed the country as a possible target due to its role in the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition in Syria.
Zamir, also a foreign affairs analyst and an advisory council member in the ruling Awami League in Bangladesh, visited Seoul at the invitation of the foreign ministry.
Amid rising concerns over possible terrorist attacks in both countries, he underlined the importance of joint efforts through the United Nations. Bangladesh is the largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping forces with 30,000 troops dispatched.
“Any sort of terrorism is something that must stop, but in order to do so, we should not take sides. The U.N. is the only means to fighting terrorism without creating unnecessary controversy,” he said.
Korea and Bangladesh established diplomatic ties in 1972, a year after Bangladesh’s Liberation War from Pakistan.
Bangladesh has become an economic engine in South Asia over a few decades with a higher growth rate, a lower birthrate, and a more internationally competitive economy, Zamir said.
It has maintained a 6 percent growth rate over the last seven years and now boasts the world’s second-largest ready-made garments industry after China.
The Bangladeshi government has been credited for fighting poverty and improving the status of women who live there within a comparatively short period of time through an active family-planning program. Women have been encouraged to join the workforce, now making up 80 percent of the workforce in the textile industry.
“These are the things which have created the matrix for the two countries to move together,” Zamir said, citing South Korea as a successful model for Bangladesh in pursuing social progress and economic development.
Bangladesh hopes to step up its cooperation with Korea in the renewable energy sector, Zamir said.
“We are looking forward to working together with South Korea on renewable energies,” he said. “South Korea has a competitive edge in its developed solar panels and wind turbines.”
Bangladesh is severely affected by rising sea levels as a result of climate change. It has been actively combating climate change over the last few years.
It submitted its national climate action plan to the U.N. body in September, promising to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions unconditionally by 5 percent by 2030 based on its existing resources.