Page 28 - Navy Journal 219

BEYOND THE BAY OF BENGAL

Commodore Syed Misbahuddin Ahmed, (C), NUP, ndc, afwc, psc, BN

Abstract
If the Himalayas is the glorious past, the Indian Ocean (IO) is the golden future of
Bangladesh. Beyond the Bay of Bengal makes an endeavour to audaciously inspire
the readers - the patriotic citizens of Bangladesh to look beyond the horizon of the
Bay of Bengal in the IO to ensure not only the ascendency towards development in
the true sense of the term, but to sustain the developed status of the country from
2041 and beyond. This paper provides an intrepid inspiration for the people of
Bangladesh with a firm conviction that all our fortunes are at sea.
Key Words: Competition, Convergence, Dilemma, Divergence, Realpolitik

“There are riches enough for all of us, no matter our abilities or circumstances. It
is only the inspiration that requires summoning”
- Robert D. Kaplan 1

Introduction
To begin with the visionary statement of our honorable Prime Minister
(PM) Sheikh Hasina: “The Bay of Bengal is an inseparable part of Bangladesh
and is our third neighbour.” According to Willem Van Schendel, a prominent
historian: “In a sense Bangladesh is the Himalayas, flattened out” (2010). The
writer of this article posits that if the Himalayas is Bangladesh’s glorious past,
the IO is the country’s golden future.
The brief discourse is intended as an ambitious ‘dream’ of many of
2
Bangladesh’s citizens who very firmly believe that ‘all our fortunes are at sea’
not only in the riches of the Bay of Bengal, but beyond in the IO. Fifteen or fifty
years from today, our prospective future generation, when this ‘dream’ comes
true, will need the wealth of the Ocean spaces to sustain the developed status of
the nation.

1. Quoted from Mediterranean Winter : The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and the
Peloponnese@ https://www.gppdreads.com/author/quoter/6970 accessed on 03 Dec 2018.
2. “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.” ― A P J Abdul Kalam, Wings
of Fire: An Autobiography@ https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/586621-dream-is-not-that-which-you-see-while-sleeping-it.
Accessed on 03 Dec 2018.

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