The power of education in Australia-Bangladesh partnership

Visitors take pictures of the main building at the University of Sydney in Australia, August 5, 2016. Reuters

The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Australia-Bangladesh relationship. Australia was one of the first developed countries to recognise Bangladesh after it became a sovereign nation following the 1971 War of Independence. While Bangladesh has emerged as a thriving nation in the last 50 years, its relationship with Australia has grown beyond mere geopolitical and economic terms. Like any other bilateral relationship, public diplomacy has become an increasingly important tool in facilitating the partnership. Education, and especially higher education, has become one of the most important aspects of this bilateral relationship as it creates and provides the platform to engage and communicate with others.

In the last 50 years, Bangladesh has grown immensely as a nation while its people have kept exploring new opportunities, represented their identities through their robust imagination, innovative concepts, diligence and resilience within and beyond the geographical border of Bangladesh. Hence, we can find Bangladeshi diaspora in every part of the world, contributing to the social, political and economic landscape of different countries as conscious citizens while maintaining their Bangladeshi identity through Bangla language and culture. Australia is one of those countries which have become a newly found home for thousands of Bangladeshi-born immigrants in the last 50 years. And education has been the most significant means of this migration. Therefore, to celebrate the golden jubilee of Bangladesh and 50 years of Bangladesh-Australia relations, we need to acknowledge the power of inclusive and accessible education in public (people-to-people) diplomacy.

A diplomatic relationship between two countries cannot be based merely on political and economic terms. While every bilateral relationship is comprised of a unique complex web of interrelationships between a diverse range of actors in many different fields, people-to-people diplomacy has turned out to be an increasingly important component in the toolbox of foreign policy. And what can be a better tool than education which actually creates and provides the platform to communicate and engage with others? Through education, all values from personal to social to national can be highlighted and gradually exchanged. And this is a very effective way to create national branding and international recognition too.

Education, and particularly higher education, has been one of the key factors of the Australia-Bangladesh diplomatic relationship which was formally established by the then Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972. Education was prioritised by the leaders of these two nations who were in power around the same time, not only on an international platform, but domestically too. As an academic who was born after the end of both of their tenures as prime ministers, I find it really fascinating as their forward-thinking has continued to serve and impact generations in both countries. Both Whitlam and Mujib not only acknowledged the importance of education but also recognised how accessible and inclusive education can foster equity and equality. Therefore, education has always been at the heart of the Australia-Bangladesh relationship, which at present, encompasses trade, development, environment, security, culture, and sports collaboration as well.

To many Bangladeshis, Australia is known as a major provider of higher education. While this reputation is built on the international student experience in Australian universities and in wider communities, it has helped Australia participate in and influence its relationship with Bangladesh, more specifically Bangladeshi people. Even those who have never come or will come to Australia have a sense of affiliation to the nation, as their family or friends have gone to Australia to study and then might have decided to stay back as skilled migrants. Besides, those students who have returned to Bangladesh after completing their education in Australia continue to be important links between the two countries as they hold important positions both within and outside the government. Having a better understanding of the 'Australian way' helps them to better negotiate and build stronger relationships between Bangladesh and Australia in many different ways.

Bangladeshi-born international students, like all other international students, translate the concept of cross-cultural communication into the practice of dialogue with people from different cultures in Australia's diverse society. And through such people-to-people interaction, they promote cultural diplomacy. In the last 50 years, it has increasingly established, developed, and sustained relationships with others within the wider Australian society. Educational institutions, and specifically Australian universities, enable them to proactively claim a cultural diplomatic role that can be evident within the society and goes beyond the traditional diplomatic roles played by the embassies, high commissions, consulates and the diplomatic corps. Therefore, I consider Bangladeshi students in Australian universities are today's new informal cultural diplomats.

Such people-to-people diplomacy through an inclusive and accessible education system provides symbolic legitimacy and increases sympathy for Australia as a nation to a large majority of Bangladeshi people. Foreign policy needs this legitimacy and sympathy, especially among intellectuals. By creating a Bangladeshi diaspora, who have become familiar with Australian socio-cultural discourse through universities, and especially with some members now a part of the Australian academic community, Australia can now claim such legitimacy and sympathy within the broader Bangladeshi community in Australia and the people of Bangladesh.

I myself have been a part of this people-to-people diplomacy as I came here as an international student and for the last 20 years, I proudly call Australia home. While Bangladesh is my birthland, after building a life in this adopted community and culture with my family, Australia has become my homeland. I am now a proud citizen of both countries, proudly sing two national anthems and am a proud fan of two cricket teams. The legacy of people-to-people diplomacy which was initiated by Whitlam and Mujib long before I was born, changed my life, and continues to change the lives of others.