Former diplomats, academicians and security experts have suggested that the government think about alternative options for dealing with the ever-deepening crisis in Myanmar, keeping a close eye on the changing context of the neighbouring country.

They said Bangladesh has to reevaluate the situation, consider the position of new actors in Myanmar, make contact with them and use international influence to work on them so that no more Myanmar nationals are pushed into the country and Rohingyas living here are taken back.
Security analyst Major General (retd) Abdur Rashid observed that Bangladesh has no way to continue with a single strategy regarding the Myanmar crisis.
“We have to move forward with course-2 diplomacy if the course-1 fails. I think China has made a mess

while meddling in Myanmar. I have no idea whether it would be able to come out of the situation and find a solution to the crisis. Therefore, we can’t depend solely on China in this regard,” he told the Daily Sun.
Rashid believes that armed conflict cannot develop trust among the Myanmar army and rebel groups. Rather, a political solution is the only way to resolve the crisis.
Former ambassador Munshi Foyez Ahmed, however, thinks China has relations with both the junta government and the rebel groups though it does not support anyone in the conflict. Yet he thinks the Bangladesh government should look forward to alternatives.

“The government has to keep other options for dealing with the crisis open. Reassessing the whole situation, it has to look for the types of solutions to be offered by various options. Countries like Japan, India and Singapore also can contribute there,” he said.
Prof Shahab Enam Khan of the Department of International Relations (IR) at Jahangirnagar University said the ongoing crisis in Myanmar has pushed the initiatives of Rohingya repatriation to utter uncertainty and Bangladesh’s main focus should be to remove any confusion regarding this.
He said, “The Myanmar military never had any interest in taking back Rohingyas from Bangladesh. Instead, it only spoke on this due to the mediation of China but hasn’t kept its words and showed minimal symptoms of meaningful repatriation.”

“Now the international community is divided over the Rohingya repatriation. The approaches of China, India, Russia and the US regarding the issue are not similar at all. The Bangladesh government couldn’t coordinate with these countries to create a common perspective,” Prof Shahab Enam added.
According to him, considering the happenings of the last several weeks in Myanmar, the Bangladesh government has to take steps for coordination.

“Besides, the government needs to monitor how the junta government, National Unity Government, Bamars and Buddhists deal with the armed rebels and reevaluate the situation,” Prof Shahab Khan, also the Executive Director and CEO at Bangladesh Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, said adding that Bangladesh has to think about its probable relations with the rebel groups engaged there.
Speaking about the multiple dimensions of the Myanmar crisis, Prof Imtiaz Ahmed of the IR department at Dhaka University observes that Myanmar has never been formed with the structure of a modern state. Rather it has been a fluid state for years.

“Myanmar army finds its relevance in this instability. It thinks as long as this conflict remains, it’ll live as an institution. It highlights its essentiality and seeks support for it showing unstable situations as an excuse,” he told the Daily Sun.
Prof Imtiaz Ahmed believes that if the Rohingyas still living in Myanmar are attacked, the issue can be taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as it strictly warned Myanmar against any further attack on Rohingyas.
Besides, the Bangladesh government has to stress the ongoing informal discussions with its international friends, he added.