In a bid to bring impetus to foreign relations, the government has reorganized the Cabinet Committee on foreign affairs.
The new 14-member committee headed by Prime Minister is going to replace the old 7-member committee.
A gazette published to this effect on July 22 also increased the scope of the committee considering the present global scenario and domestic needs.
The ministers of agriculture, home, finance, foreign, planning, industry, food, commerce, environment, and expatriate welfare will be sitting on the new committee.
The state ministers of foreign, water resources and women and children affairs will also be part of the panel.
Secretaries to Cabinet Division, principal secretary, foreign, public security division, security services division, finance, expatriate welfare, economic relations division and other relevant secretaries will act as support for the committe.
The new panel will assess foreign policy issues and analysis bilateral, regional and multilateral relations in respect to political, economical and cultural aspects.
Security and economic interest will also be under the purview of the body which will also look after the blue economy policy.
The committee will be responsible for the welfare of expatriates, coordination with international bodies.
“The last committee did not function properly. We hope this will do,” a foreign ministry official said.
Another official said, “In today’s world foreign and defence policies go hand in hand to protect national interest, but the defence secretary or a representative from the Armed Forces Division is missing here.”
The ongoing Rohingya crisis also makes Bangladesh vulnerable in terms of security issues and thus, foreign and defence must work together to tackle the situation, the official added.
He is of the view that Bangladesh is an energy hungry country and it needs to procure large amount of Liquefied Natural Gas, coal and petroleum products to meet the demand.
“Energy minister and secretary will play a very crucial role in ensuring energy security for which procurement from abroad will be major factor,” he added.
“It seems that whoever formulated this committee had some sort of lacking in understanding the entire gamut of foreign policy and relations,” the official said.