http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=236775
Sunday, June 3, 2012
No US navy base in Ctg
Dhaka, Washington
Diplomatic Correspondent
Bangladesh and the United States have termed baseless, unfounded and fabricated the Indian media report that the US wants to park its Seventh Fleet in Chittagong.
“The Government wishes to state in categorical terms that such reports are baseless and unfounded, and that the assumptions and suggestions contained in the report are clearly fabricated,” the Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a belated response to the Indian news.
“The Government wishes further to state in unequivocal terms that there has been no such discussion at any level between Bangladesh and the USA, including during the recent visit of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” a ministry press release said yesterday evening.
“I can tell you that this story is without foundation. The [US] Ambassador [to Dhaka] attended Secretary Clinton's meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, and he confirms that there was no mention of building bases, moving the Seventh Fleet, or anything else of like nature,” US embassy spokesperson Patricia A Hill told The Daily Star.
Times Now, a Mumbai-based 24-hour English news channel, on Thursday aired a news item that said the United Sates wanted to park its Seventh Fleet in Bangladesh in its strategic interests.
The Times of India website carried a written version of the TV report.
Worried by the increasing presence of Chinese naval bases in the South China Sea, America now eyed a counter strategy as it wanted an overall presence in Asia, right from Japan to its Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, it said.
By parking the Seventh Fleet at a Chittagong base, the report said, the US would be able to keep an eye on China and have a strategic post in Asia as it pulled out of Afghanistan.
The US State Department has denied on record that Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Dhaka had anything to do with military co-operation.
Times Now claimed the visit was rather strategic than friendly and India was caught unawares.
The Bangladesh government remains extremely tight-lipped over the developments as it has internally decided to deny it on record, fearing a backlash from its own hardliners, it added.
“This move by America could put India on the back foot if the American fleet moves to Bangladesh. All of Indian security installations will come under the American scanner…The base could cast a shadow on Indian interests.”
The foreign ministry statement said the attention of the government has been drawn to a news item in the local media referring to the Indian report which suggested a possible parking of the US 7th Fleet in Chittagong.
Referring to the recently signed Joint Declaration on Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue, the ministry said it reflected the multifaceted partnership between the two countries.
The declaration provides an institutional mechanism of dialogue on an annual basis on all issues of mutual interest.
Both sides are committed to such institutional dialogue in furthering substantive co-operation and consultation.
The government also wishes to underscore its commitment to furthering co-operation, peace and stability in the region and in the world, it said.
“Bangladesh's role in global peacekeeping and its pioneering role in engendering institutionalised regional co-operation in South Asia is well recognised, as also her credentials as an active, responsible and contributing member of the international community.”
The spokesperson of the US embassy in Dhaka further said the United States and Bangladesh did have a strong military-to-military relationship that involved a range of training exercises and provision of equipment to enhance Bangladesh's capacity to participate in international peacekeeping operations and to better protect its maritime borders.
“We look forward to further cooperation with Bangladesh along these lines.”