North Atlantic Treaty Organization
May 31, 2013
Junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visit NATO
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Discussions…touched on the 2011 air campaign over Libya, the possibility of NATO getting involved in Syria, and NATO’s maritime counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa… [Which] highlight the need for the Alliance to develop partnerships with countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area.
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A group of junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visited NATO Headquarters on 15 May to learn more about the Alliance and its cooperation with countries across the globe.
Briefing the group about NATO’s Strategic Concept, which was adopted at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, Zsolt Rábai of the Public Diplomacy Division explained that developing cooperation with partners is one of NATO’s three core security tasks.
“New global challenges and threats don’t stop on the border of Europe,” said Rabai, emphasising that partnerships with other international organisations, such as the European Union or the United Nations, are also increasingly important in the unpredictable security environment of the 21st century.Gilles Vander Ghinst of the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division also underlined that “partnerships are a central feature of NATO’s work.”
The group had an opportunity to discuss NATO’s past and current operations with Erik Sandahl of the Operations Division. Given the proximity of Bangladesh and Pakistan to Afghanistan and the central role that NATO is playing…there, the young diplomats were very interested to learn more about NATO’s current and future mission.
Discussions also touched on the 2011 air campaign over Libya, the possibility of NATO getting involved in Syria, and NATO’s maritime counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa. International efforts to tackle piracy – a “booming industry with low investment” with links to other forms of organised crime such as trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings – again highlight the need for the Alliance to develop partnerships with countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area.
The half-day visit was organised by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, together with the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations, as part of efforts to reach out to audiences in Asia.
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