Dhaka, Aug 29 (IANS) The government of Bangladesh should ensure that remarks made by ministers on foreign policy matters convey the official position of the State, rather than the personal perspectives of the individual concerned, a report has stated.

Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Humaiun Kobir, said the country has expressed interest in joining the Mecca agreement involving Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He has also argued that participation of Muslim-majority countries in such a security arrangement would not be unusual.

Reports, however, indicate that Dhaka has not formally decided to join the pact — a distinction that matters, a report in Bangladesh's 'Daily Sun' mentioned this week.

“If the government has decided to explore the possibility of joining the agreement, it should say so clearly. If discussions are still at an early stage, that should also be made clear. And if Humaiun Kobir was merely expressing his personal assessment rather than announcing an official government decision, then the government should clarify that without delay,” it mentioned,

The report further noted that controversy surrounding Kobir’s dual citizenship should, for instance, have been relatively straightforward to resolve.

Questions have been raised over whether he formally renounced his British citizenship before joining the government.

In light of constitutional provisions governing foreign citizenship and eligibility to serve as a member of parliament, minister, state minister or deputy minister, such questions are not unreasonable, the report noted.

Fundamentally, this matter could have been easily settled by publishing the relevant documents.

Instead, when journalists raised the issue, Kobir questioned which newspaper was pursuing it and brought up political events of 2008 and the caretaker government led by Moeen U Ahmed and Fakhruddin Ahmed. His response did little to answer the central question and, if anything, only deepened the controversy, the report mentioned.

“I am dealing with citizens, and you are talking about netizens! What netizens? I deal with citizens; I work. You talk about netizens! So which newspaper is it? Who is so upset that they will not let me work? Why are they so upset? Is it the itch of 2008 coming back? Is the itch of the Moeenuddin-Fakhruddin era flaring up again?” Daily Sun quoted Kobir as saying while responding to a journalist.

The report stressed that although public officials deserve respect for the office they hold, legitimate questions raised by journalists should not automatically be interpreted as personal attacks.

“Journalists are not there to flatter ministers. Their job is to ask questions—and sometimes those questions will be uncomfortable. The controversy also raises a broader concern about Humaiun Kobir's approach to diplomacy,” it noted.

--IANS

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