Biswal lauds Bangladesh’s gains in health, food security

Washington's point person for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal at a Harvard lecture has lauded Bangladesh’s gains in health, food security and economic opportunities, but said the US would continue to press for ‘greater political inclusion’.

She credited the US assisted programmes in Bangladesh for putting the country on Millennium Development Goals track related to child and maternal mortality, as one of the few countries in the world.

Bangladesh is the “only country” where the US is implementing all three of President Obama’s development initiatives – on health, food security, and climate change, she said.

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But she cautioned without ‘greater’ political inclusion, “a more stable and prosperous future is put at risk”.

The US has been calling for “credible” elections with an agreed poll-time dispensation over which the BNP-led opposition boycotted the Jan 5 general election.

Biswal, the Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, was delivering a lecture on “US Foreign Policy in South Asia: A Vision for Prosperity and Security” at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government on Wednesday.

She shared US views on engagement in South Asia in particular and said this was clearly a time of “great dynamism” across South Asia, with elections and transitions that have been unfolding over the past year and concluding over the next few months.

She pointed out the US vision of ‘New Silk Road’ connecting South Asia and Central Asia and focused on “opportunities and imperative” the Afghanistan elections created for this connectivity.

For Bangladesh, she said, one must acknowledge the important gains Bangladesh made in improving the health, food security and economic opportunity for its citizens.

She said over the past twenty years, USAID contributed to a reduction in under-five mortality by 60 percent in Bangladesh.

“And while the Rana Plaza and Tazreen factory fires focused world attention on the inadequate labor conditions, we have engaged, along with European partners, in an intense effort with labor, industry, civil society and government to have great improvements in the garment sector in Bangladesh”.

She said the US security cooperation with both Nepal and Bangladesh had grown over the years, “not only in international peacekeeping front, where both countries are important contributors, but also on border security, counter terrorism and HADR”.

“We are particularly focused in supporting Nepal and Bangladesh as they build their capacity to respond to natural and humanitarian disasters”.

Biswal said in Bangladesh, the US was helping prepare for cyclones and built over 500 cyclone shelters since 2001.

She also mentioned the recently transferred US-decommissioned ship “Coast Guard cutter” to the Bangladeshi Navy that she said “has already played a disaster response role”.

The assistant secretary said Bangladesh in particular stood to develop “tremendous commercial ties” with the rest of Asia and had begun to break down trade barriers with India.

She said the US was supporting the countries of the region for economic and energy linkages as she referred to the proposed hydropower sharing from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan – to TAPI – the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline.

Biswal said it would transform their “individual and collective economies” as she said the US was focused on easing constraints to trade in this least connected part of the world.

“US technical assistance has helped reduce custom procedures by nearly half in Afghanistan, dramatically reducing border release times”.

“Now clearly the biggest constraint to boosting trade and energy flows is in addressing the barriers between India and Pakistan,” she said.

She added that “an improved climate” between Pakistan and its largest neighbor India “can pay enormous economic dividends”.

Biswal termed India South Asia’s “economic engine” on which regional growth hinges.

“But India faces real vulnerabilities. Over 400 million people in India lack reliable access to energy,” she said.

She said political stability and regional security were also the issues of critical importance.

“In order to enhance that stability and security, our foreign policy is designed around engagement – even on the toughest and most vexing issues,” she said.

The assistant secretary said “successful” elections in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India – all in the span of a year – create real opportunities for regional stability.

“But we can’t ignore the security challenges posed by the drawdown of NATO forces and the transition in Afghanistan,” she said.

“As the countries of the region choose policies that promote economic growth and societal development, hundreds of millions of people can be lifted out of poverty and into more prosperous, healthy, and secure futures,” she said.

She said political transition in Myanmar also brings “historic opportunity” to connect South and South East Asia into an integrated economic landscape.

“I assure you the United States is as engaged as ever across the Asian continent,” she said and that there were enormous potential for “continued expansion” of US relations with the region.