Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday said Bangladesh does not maintain any official communication with the Arakan Army, a non-state armed group that has partial control over Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
“As a state, we cannot have official communication with the Arakan Army, and we have not severed diplomatic relations with Myanmar,” he said while speaking to journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He explained that the government of Myanmar remains the internationally recognised legal authority of the country and does not acknowledge the Arakan Army as a lawful entity. Bangladesh, therefore, continues to deal with the situation strictly through state-to-state diplomatic channels.
“We have not ended our diplomatic relations with Myanmar. We view the current developments through the framework of relations between two sovereign states,” the adviser added.
Commenting on the prolonged Rohingya crisis, Touhid Hossain said the issue is unlikely to be resolved in the near future and requires long-term planning and realistic expectations.
“I believe the Rohingya crisis will take a long time to resolve. Many things will change along the way, and we need to prepare ourselves with the understanding that this will be a prolonged process,” he said.
Bangladesh currently hosts more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled persecution and violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, putting immense pressure on the country’s resources and social infrastructure.
No decision yet on troop deployment to Gaza
The foreign adviser also said the government has not yet made any decision regarding the deployment of Bangladeshi forces to Gaza as part of a proposed International Stabilization Force.
“We are discussing the issue, but nothing has been approved so far,” he said.
He noted that Bangladesh has set three clear conditions for any potential deployment and will not send troops unless those conditions are fully met.
“We will not go there to fight, and we will not work under a command structure with whom we cannot communicate. There must be clarity on the mandate, command and communication mechanisms. Only then will we consider such a decision,” Touhid Hossain said.
He reiterated that, as of now, no final decision has been taken on the matter.
