Emerging Security Challenges: South Asian Security Landscape
Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organized its April Roundtable discussion on the topic, ‘Emerging Security Challenges: South Asian Security Landscape’, at the Westin, Dhaka. The discussion was moderated by Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a Distinguished Fellow at BIPSS. The expert panel consisted of Dr Niloy Ranjan Biswas, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, Ms Farzana Mannan, Associate Professor of International Relations at Jahangirnagar University, and Brig. Gen. (Retd) Shahedul Anam Khan, former Associate Editor of the Daily Star. The discussion was attended by Ambassadors and senior diplomats based in Dhaka, government officials, defence personnel, academics, editors, journalists, and scholars.
Dr Niloy Ranjan discussed the geostrategic significance of South Asia, asking a pertinent question of whether we are ‘constructing a meta-region’. Ms Farzana Mannan shed light on non-traditional security issues in South Asia, focusing particularly on the impact of climate security on human security. Turning to traditional security issues in South Asia, Brig. Gen. Shahedul Anam focused on hard security and the region’s ability to defend its freedom of action. All the panellists agreed that South Asia should be given greater importance by major international actors.
The roundtable ended with lively interactive session with the participants.
