Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is coming to Dhaka on a two-day trip, on November 23-24, his first to Bangladesh, for a ministerial conference of the Indian Ocean Rim Association or IORA. He will also discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest apart from his key focus on the IORA meeting. This is the first time in Bangladesh’s 50-year history that a Russian foreign minister is coming to Dhaka. On many accounts, his first visit is immensely significant for Bangladesh.
Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of one of the most powerful countries in the world, is a brilliant diplomat and civil servant rather than a politician. He served as the UN permanent representative of Russia for 10 years. Lavrov has been serving as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. Till date, no higher Russian officials have visited Bangladesh. This makes the visit more important in the geopolitical and geo-economic context. There has been speculation in the diplomatic arena for a long time about the proposed visit. Now it is having a successful outcome.
Earlier Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr Momen extended an invitation to his Russian counterpart to attend the 22nd IORA Council of Ministers meeting to be held in Dhaka on November 24. Bangladesh, the current chair of IORA, expects over a dozen ministers. Many have decided to join the conference after receiving the invitation, including Russia.
According to diplomatic sources, Lavrov will seek Bangladesh on Russia’s side in the Ukraine issue as well as bilateral issues. Since the war in Ukraine, Russia has been under a lot of pressure due to Western sanctions. Different countries are bringing one resolution against Russia in the United Nations. Russia is losing these resolutions by a large margin. In such a context, Russia is trying to strengthen relations with friendly countries by visiting different countries.
Since the Soviet era, Russia has been a close friend of Bangladesh. The USSR played a strong role supporting Bangladesh during its struggle for independence, and Russian friendship has continued during the post-Soviet period. Russia has thus been a true friend of Bangladesh since its very inception. On 25 January 2022, Russia-Bangladesh marked 50 years of diplomatic relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that ties between Moscow and Dhaka have been steadily developing in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect.
After some months, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid called for US sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine to be lifted on the grounds that Moscow was not restrained while people in her country and across the globe had suffered. She appears to be the first head of the government to urge the sanctions be lifted. This signifies the diplomatic bond between Bangladesh and Russia.
Russia is important for Bangladesh for many reasons. These include nuclear power plant cooperation, import of other commodities including wheat and fertilizer, and potentially being an important partner in resolving the Rohingya issue.
Bangladesh and Russia are enjoying a healthy growth in terms of trade and commerce. But both sides have much more to offer. It is expected that the recently concluded Bangladesh-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation will remove the bottlenecks in further expansion of bilateral trade. It is also to be hoped that Bangladesh-Russia friendly and strong ties will continue in the future.
Bangladesh wants Russia closer to Bangladesh to find a solution to the Rohingya crisis. Last month, Momen met his Russian counterpart in Astana, Kazakhstan, where he emphasized the strong support of the international community to solve the Rohingya crisis. Bangladesh wants Russia to start a trilateral process with Myanmar to reach an amicable solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis. However, Lavrov didn’t make any commitment straightaway. The Momen-Lavrov meeting will discuss the promotion of mutual cooperation between the two countries. Lavrov’s visit will not lead to any new agreements between the two countries. However, the issues that have been reached between the two countries so far and are in the final stage will be discussed in the meeting.
It is worth mentioning that Bangladesh needs Russian assistance in ensuring its energy, food and fertilizer security as Bangladesh deals with the global crisis, because a small country like Bangladesh will have to survive by ensuring those securities. Bangladesh wants to import food and fuel from Russia amid the ongoing crisis around the world. The Russia-Ukraine war has increased the oil price in the world market. In such a situation, some countries including India, China are buying oil from Russia at a discount. Last May, Russia also offered to sell crude oil to Bangladesh. Bangladesh will be able to present its demands more strongly with Russia during this visit.
Again, there is a huge demand in the Russian market for various products made in Bangladesh, including garments. Because of various complications, Bangladesh is forced to export ready-made garments and other products to the Russian market through other countries. In the business interests of both countries, it is important to resolve these issues through bilateral talks and diplomacy. In the fiscal year 2020-2021, Bangladesh exported goods worth $665.31 million to Russia and imported goods worth $466.70 million.
However, Bangladesh has also partnered with Russia for other purposes, including the South Asian country’s first nuclear power plant. Due to the war, funding from Russia for the Rooppur nuclear power plant has decreased. Again, sending money from Bangladesh to Russia for the import of equipment for this project has also stopped. In this situation, the two countries are working to normalize money exchange through third countries. Considering the current situation, Bangladesh will explore the possibility of cooperation in the energy sector with Russia during Lavrov’s planned official visit.
Bangladesh and Russia are enjoying a healthy growth in terms of trade and commerce. But both sides have much more to offer. It is expected that the recently concluded Bangladesh-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation will remove the bottlenecks in further expansion of bilateral trade. It is also to be hoped that Bangladesh-Russia friendly and strong ties will continue in the future.
