Bangladesh has resorted to public diplomacy in its efforts to narrow down the decades old “gap in understanding” with its neighbour Myanmar.
The relations with the new democratic Myanmar are of strategic importance, as they are the gateway to China and ASEAN economies, besides spelling a potential supply of natural gas.
In its latest move, the Bangladesh embassy on Saturday showcased the cultural linkages between the two countries, flying in Bangladesh’s tribal cultural troupes, mostly from the Marma, Chakma, and Tripura tribes.
They rendered their traditional performances, featuring the cultural similarities, to celebrate Bangla New Year at the chancery in Yangon in front of high-profile ruling party politicians, among others.
Chief Patron of the ruling National League of Democracy (NLD) U Tin Oo and Chief Minister of Yangon U Phyo Min Thein were among the guests. They were welcomed with a splash of water, a tradition in New Year celebrations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and in Bangladesh’s tribal communities.
This was organised just a month after Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD took office on Mar 30, ending over five decades of military rules.“This is the first such performance of Bangladesh’s cultural troupes in Myanmar,” Ambassador Mohammad Sufiur Rahman told bdnews24.com, as guests were greeting him saying: “we had no idea we were so similar”.
“Yes we are so close, yet we are so far,” the ambassador told bdnews24.com, “now we want to mend the gap in understanding”.
The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh has given priority to its neighbourhood policies. Its relations with the biggest neighbour India is now said to be the best ever.
But the same cannot be said of Myanmar, mainly due to the Muslim minority Rohingya issue.
Myanmar saw Bangladesh through the prism of Rohingya while Bangladesh saw them through the prism of Rakhine state from where this minority group fled sectarian violence and took shelter in Bangladesh.
“We have to change these two prisms,” the ambassador said.
The uneasy relations sometimes come to the fore with skirmishes between the two border guards.Bangladesh, however, showed its keenness to carry the relations forward keeping the refugee issue aside, giving importance to the similarities.
In recent years, Bangladesh has allowed Myanmar’s frigate to use the Naaf River to go into their part of the lake. The frigate has stayed in Myanmar waters bordering Cox’s Bazar for a month before going back.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the first to send congratulatory message to Suu Kyi soon after her election. Hasina also called her over the phone to greet her.
Talks are underway to ink formal mechanisms of holding security dialogues between the countries and also to establish border liaison offices.
Bangladesh is also planning railway links from Chittagong to Kunming through Myanmar, apart from a BCIM economic corridor that will link the two countries with the two biggest economies India and China.
Dhaka is also eager to import gas from the Shwe gas field in Rakhine state.
Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of Mizzima Media Group, Soe Myint, in an interaction, said that media could play a big role in building the trust.“We do not know each other. People in Myanmar do not have much information about Bangladesh,” he said to a group of Bangladeshi journalists visiting Yangon as part of the embassy’s effort to build people-to-people contact.
“What we can do is share contents among the media, so that people in Myanmar know Bangladesh and people in Bangladesh know Myanmar,” Myint said.
He recently sent his chief photographer Hong Sar to Bangladesh.
“I am surprised to see Bangladesh. I had no idea before. I had an impression that people in Bangladesh are unfriendly, they are not happy, they are poor.
“But it’s quite different. I was misinformed earlier,” Sar said.
Source: bdnews24