Delivering the 4th RK Mishra Memorial Lecture, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister, Dr Dipu Moni, called for a Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin Regime, going beyond the boundaries of Bangladesh and India, to address the common realities of our region.
Delivering the 4th RK Mishra Memorial Lecture, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr Dipu Moni, called for a Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin Regime, going beyond the boundaries of Bangladesh and India, to address the common realities of our region. Dr Dipu Moni said "a shared future Basin regime would recognise the divergent needs and priorities of each State on both the existing and emerging principles of international law".
Saying that we stand on the threshold of setting in new mechanisms for realising our common goals and aspirations, Dr Dipu Moni said a Basin regime, secured by a Basin instrument, would strive for a higher and better quality of life, materially, economically and socially.
The event, organised at the ORF auditorium in Delhi on July 25, was chaired by Dr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development. ORF Director Sunjoy Joshi gave the opening remarks and senior Trustee Mr. Lalit Bhasin proposed the vote of thanks.
Explaining her vision strategy for a Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin Regime, Dr Dipu Moni said such a regime, she believes, would address issues historically ignored by erstwhile imperial powers, but which are quintessentially important. Such a regime would also advance the strengths of each of its component civilizations, three or five thousand years old.
"A Basin regime would demand a co-mingling of its divergent peoples each enriching another, joining hands, walking shoulder to shoulder, in the undertakings in science and technology and sharing the benefits of their collective and separate achievements", Dr Moni said.
Dr. Dipu Moni said "a Basin regime would demand a Grand Design to be converted into a Grade Concert."
Elaborating further, Dr Moni said a Basin regime would advance consistently with international and regional regimes and charters, i.e., the United Nations framework, of regional frameworks like SAARC, BIMSTEC and ASEAN.
She said "we would be aware for the encumbrances and of the impediments in our path. Often, the dramatis personae may act their part of cross or conflictive purposes, even of unfair competition not by States and peoples, but by powerful cross-country or international actors whose goals are not consistent with national or people’s objectives".
"But we would ’will’ a safe and secure future of the Basin regime and of ’the golden lands’ we share with our neighbours," the Bangladesh Foreign Minister said.
Dr Dipu Moni said naturally, the Basin regime would, beyond the boundaries of India and Bangladesh, include all other basin sovereign States, namely Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and in the upper reaches, China, as well as the Bay of Bengal itself.
She said the Basin approach, together with its delta component, would help us address the common realities of our region, by ensuring the protection of the natural environment and enabling us to address climate change.
It would also enable us to prepare emergency stocks of essential drugs and medicinal supplies to cope with epidemics. Additionally, such a regime would allow us for the creation of Food Banks, Buffer Stocks of Commodities and natural resources and strengthen information and technology data bases, Dr Dipu Moni said.
"The Basin regime would integrate many economic and cultural processes and allow us to pool our respective fields of expertise and augment our human resources. It would enable a holistic approach, rather than a case-by-case approach to cross-border or international issues by facilitating Joint Basin Management of the common rivers and joint undertakings in the sea-bed.
The Bangladesh Foreign Minister also praised the efforts of both the Sheikh Hasina Government and the Manmohan Singh government in improving Bangladesh-India relations, saying they were able to look at the world through a shared prism. She said both Sheikh Hasina and Dr Singh have demonstrated that our relationship is underpinned by trust, hope and conviction in a future of shared destinies for our peoples.
Dr Moni called for cooperation with the other countries-Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and China -- in the Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin. She observed that the problem of resource sharing has arisen of late from the advent of separate sovereign states featuring international rivers, international boundaries, immigration etc. These new issues are international in nature and require the adoption of international instruments and processes to serve common causes and achieve common objects.
She went on to mention that the ’doctrine of necessity’ invoked to justify military rule has both constitutionally and judicially been rendered a thing of the past. Bangladesh is today under its constitution and through judicial pronouncements a democratic nation fastened to the rule of law.
After the Lecture, Dr. Moni engaged with the audience over a question and answer round. Responding to a question on the Teesta agreement and its consequences for the party if the Indian Parliament does not ratify the agreement, the Foreign Minister said that she believes that the people will take the effort and initiative into account when they vote and that she is hopeful that it will go through. Another member of the audience asked her what the effect would be if the Chinese build dams on the Brahmaputra. Dr. Moni pointed out that rivers are a source of life and they unite us all. She said that even though people find ways to create a divide, we as a region should grow together, build the future and talk to our neighbours
Earlier, Mr Sunjoy Joshi remembered ORF’s Founder Chairman as a political visionary and as the epitome of a liberal thinker passionate about South Asia and its socio-economic reintegration. He said the Lecture Series is to celebrate and commemorate the late founder’s ideas.
Dr Shashi Tharoor, who chaired the event, said the two countries have an umbilical relationship and that the continent has a proud history of women leaders. He pointed out the historical and geographical linkage to Bangladesh and that India has the longest boundary with Bangladesh and not with Pakistan as many people think. India-Bangladesh relations have intensified over the years and they now share a remarkable relationship. He observed that the present level of engagement between the two countries shows mutual intent, hopes and aspirations. As he called on Dr. Moni to address the audience, Dr Tharoor stated that the two countries must preserve, nurture, sustain and accelerate the relationship.
Following the Lecture, Dr. Moni engaged with the audience over a question and answer round. Responding to a question on the Teesta agreement and its consequences for the party if the Indian Parliament does not ratify the agreement, the Foreign Minister said that she believes that the people will take the effort and initiative into account when they vote and that she is hopeful that it will go through. Another member of the audience asked her what the effect would be if the Chinese build dams on the Brahmaputra. Dr. Moni in her answer pointed out that rivers are a source of life and they unite us all. She said that even though people find ways to create a divide, we as a region should grow together, build the future and talk to our neighbours.
Concluding the event, Mr. Lalit Bhasin thanked Dr Moni and DR Tharoor for their time and sharing their views. He said that Shri R. K. Mishra was an inspiration and an all absorbing visionary of the highest calibre. He said that ORF hopes to set in motion further progress on the India-Bangladesh relationship.
(This report is prepared by Darshana M. Baruah and Anahita Mathai, Research Assistants, Observer Research Foundation, Delhi)
The full text of the Minister’s speech
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