The Osmani Centre for Peace and Security Studies (OCPASS) successfully hosted its first international seminar on 11 October 2025, focusing on Bangladesh’s pursuit of strategic autonomy within the evolving Indo-Pacific landscape.

The event convened eminent scholars and policy experts from Bangladesh, China, and the United States, reflecting OCPASS’s growing role as a platform for regional strategic dialogue.

Brig Gen S. M. Mahbub-Ul-Alam (Retd) opened the discussion by framing the Indo-Pacific as a “strategic chessboard”—home to 60% of the world’s population and 62% of global GDP. His keynote raised the central question: how can smaller states like Bangladesh balance great-power rivalries to protect their autonomy?

Key speakers included:
Mr. Michael Kugelman (Wilson Center, USA)
Dr. Hu Shisheng (CICIR, China)
Prof. Dr. A. S. M. Ali Ashraf
Prof. Dr. Shahab Enam Khan

Topics spanned U.S.–China rivalry, regional security alignments, and actionable policy frameworks. Dr. Khan notably proposed developing a National Security Doctrine grounded in balanced diplomacy.
In his concluding remarks, Lt Gen Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman, PhD (Retd), Chair of OCPASS, emphasized nurturing a strategic culture and formulating a comprehensive National Security Policy to strengthen Bangladesh’s global posture.