Can’t antagonise one friend to make another happy: Bangladesh Army chief on Myanmar

He says international sanctions on top junta officials bar Bangladesh from wider engagement with the Myanmar military

Army chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed has explained their position on the Myanmar military, which is fighting rebels in parts of the country, including on the borders with Bangladesh.

Speaking at a discussion organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on defence diplomacy, he said international sanctions on top junta officials bar Bangladesh from wider engagement with the Myanmar military.

“There was a suggestion about Myanmar, whether we can engage more with Myanmar military leaders. Actually we have our engagement and we do everything we can. But you know some of Myanmar military leaders, they have international sanctions. So there is a risk of putting ourselves into trouble when you do that,” Shafiuddin said.

“Because all are our friends. So to make one friend happy we cannot antagonise another. So it’s a dynamic that we have to look into.”

Hundreds of Myanmar security personnel have fled to Bangladesh in recent months amid intense fighting with rebels along the border. Bangladesh has sent back some of them while new arrivals have continued.

Several Bangladeshis have been killed in shelling from Myanmar, grenade and landmine blasts while many others were injured by gunfire from across the border amid the conflict.