Afghanistan–Bangladesh relations

Afghanistan–Bangladesh relations

Afghanistan	Bangladesh

Afghanistan–Bangladesh relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

History

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Kingdom of Afghanistan provided a critical safe passage to Bengali civilians based in West Pakistan. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan called for the swift recognition of the newly established state.

In 2010, Former US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke requested Bangladesh to send combat troops to Afghanistan. Few days later, SITE intelligence group published a report headlined "Afghan Taliban reacts to US requesting troops from Bangladesh" where the Taliban called for rejecting the US request. Two days later, a press conference by the US embassy in Dhaka restated the request saying, "The United States has intensified its discussion on Bangladesh's engagement in Afghanistan for global peace and stability,". However, there was a general consensus among the politicians of different political parties as well as the civil society members that Bangladesh should not send its troops to Afghanistan without the UN mandate. Later, the government of Bangladesh declared that Bangladesh won't send any troops to Afghanistan but offered assistance on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the war ravaged country.

Cooperation in rebuilding Afghanistan

Bangladesh has been actively participating in the rebuilding process of Afghanistan which was also praised by the Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Bangladesh has also offered to train Afghan civil servants, police personnel and diplomats and to create a skilled workforce. Bangladesh is also interested in providing technical and vocational training in the fields of banking, disaster management, primary and mass education, health care, agricultural etc.

Several Bangladesh based NGOs are working for the socio-economic development of Afghanistan. Bangladesh based BRAC has been operating in Afghanistan since 2002. As of 2012, it had 173 offices across the country, affecting 29.8 million people.

Afghanistan has sought Bangladesh's assistance on enhancing its education system. In 2009, a 12-member delegation from Afghan universities visited Dhaka to gain experience on higher education system. As of 2011, 35 Afghan students, were studying in Bangladeshi universities.

Economic relations

Bangladeshi jute, ceramics and pharmaceutical products have good demands in the Afghan market. Afghanistan has expressed interest to recruit manpower from Bangladesh for its reconstruction efforts. In order to expand the bilateral trade, Afghanistan has proposed to create direct business link with Bangladesh.