Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to visit Dhaka during third week of November 2022. There is endless curiosity in the diplomatic arena about the proposed visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as this trip is taking place at a crucial time when Russia is at war with Ukraine. Although Russian foreign minister has accepted Bangladesh’s invitation it is yet not confirmed by Kremlin if Mr. Lavrov will finally visit Bangladesh. Bangladesh mission in Moscow has also not receive any confirmation in this regard. It is also not confirmed whether Sergey Lavrov will exclusively visit Bangladesh or would visit some other countries in the region.
Commenting on possibility of Russian foreign minister’s expected Dhaka tour, a diplomatic source in Moscow said, at this junction when Russia is facing criticism from many countries in the world because of Ukraine war, Bangladesh has already emerged into one of the top allies as Dhaka has not shown any bias towards Kyiv. Moreover, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been repeatedly calling for lifting of Western sanctions of Russia. Sheikh Hasina said, sanctions on Russia is causing tremendous sufferings to most of the countries in the world, including those sanctioning nations. Moreover, it is feared that these sanctions may result in global food crisis and cruel hunger.
The source further said, Dhaka is hosting the conference of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which is a massive regional platform. For Russia, attending this important even would bring diplomatic advantages. Although Russia is not a member of IORA, it enjoys substantial importance as a dialogue partner. Moreover, Bangladesh, being the chair of IORA has extended invitation to the Russian foreign minister in a respectable manner, and by accepting this invitation and attending the upcoming IORA even would further deepen the existing bilateral relations between Dhaka and Moscow.
It may be mentioned here that, Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Bangladesh would be the first-ever visit by any Russian foreign minister in the country.
Meanwhile, diplomatic circle in Bangladesh said, during Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s Bangladesh visit, a number of bilateral issues will also be discussed, amongst which, Rohingya repatriation issue will be highlighted.
In my opinion, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s Dhaka visit would play an important role in further strengthening existing bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. It may be mentioned here that, Soviet Union one of the key supporters during Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. Moreover, during the past 51 years, relations between Dhaka and Moscow has widened and Russia has emerged into one of the important development partners of Bangladesh. Now under the current situation, Russian foreign minister should also play positive role in helping Bangladesh with the supply of crude oil and food grain – if not directly, then via India.
The Indian Ocean Rim Association
The Indian Ocean Rim Association is an inter-governmental organization which was established on 7 March 1997.
The vision for IORA originated during a visit by late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa to India in 1995, where he said:
As the third largest ocean woven together by trade routes, commands control of major sea-lanes carrying half of the world’s container ships, one third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of the world’s oil shipments, the Indian Ocean remains an important lifeline to international trade and transport.
Home to nearly 2.7 billion people, Member States whose shores are washed by the ocean are rich in cultural diversity and richness in languages, religions, traditions, arts and cuisines.
They vary considerably in terms of their areas, populations and levels of economic development. They may also be divided into a number of sub-regions (Australasia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Eastern & Southern Africa), each with their own regional groupings (such as ASEAN, SAARC, GCC and SADC, to name a few). Despite such diversity and differences, these countries are bound together by the Indian Ocean.
IORA’s apex body is the Council of Foreign Ministers (COM) which meets annually. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) assumed the role of Chair since November 2019 – November 2021, followed by the People’s Republic of Bangladesh November 2021 – November 2023. A committee of Senior Officials (CSO) meets twice a year to progress IORA’s agenda and consider recommendations by Working Groups and forums of officials, business and academics to implement policies and projects to improve the lives of people within the Indian Ocean Member States.
