Global conflicts and rivalries among major powers are placing significant economic pressure on developing countries, Information Minister Andalib Rahman Partha has said. He noted that countries such as Bangladesh are being forced to purchase fuel at several times higher prices despite having no involvement in the wars causing the disruption.

He made the remarks while speaking at a leadership forum session titled “The Future of Asia” at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026, held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Saturday (October 3).

Referring to strategic rivalries such as the competition between the United States and China, the information minister said developing countries like Bangladesh are having to bear the economic costs of conflicts among major powers. Despite having no involvement in the wars, ordinary people in such countries are being forced to buy fuel at prices three to four times higher, he said.

He called for maintaining international stability in the interests of developing countries instead of allowing instability and conflict to spread around the world.

Addressing Bangladesh’s domestic situation, Andalib Rahman Partha said the country needs to overcome the leadership vacuum of the past two decades and engage the younger generation in working together in the national interest.

Describing national unity during major crises as one of Bangladesh’s greatest strengths, he said there is now broad agreement across the country on the need to move Bangladesh forward. However, he claimed that young people had been deliberately kept away from politics and nation-building initiatives in recent years, resulting in a deep leadership crisis.

Bringing an end to this psychological distance among young people and involving them in nation-building efforts is now one of the major challenges, the information minister added.