Day 2: Sunday, November 23

09:30 – 11:00      Surma

 Roundtable (By Invitation Only)

Dancing with Giants: The Art of Small-State Survival

Smaller countries in South Asia have adapted to live in an area where giants rule. Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives continue to negotiate between rival centers of power, the United States, China, and India, each of which demands allegiance and offers opportunities, from the Cold War chessboard to the current Indo-Pacific conflict. This roundtable looks at how these nations maintain their independence in a crowded strategic environment by using diplomacy, delay, and skillful negotiation to find a balance between caution and inventiveness. When every decision has repercussions, survival itself turns into an art form that combines creativity, fortitude, and instinct.

Speakers:

Constantino Xavier, Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress. India

Pramod Jaiswal, Research Director, Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, Nepal

Shafqat Munir, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS)

Parvez Karim Abbasi, Executive Director               , Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) 

Touseef Mehraj Raina, Co-founder, Jammu & Kashmir Policy Institute , India 

Zahid Shahab Ahmed, Associate Professor, National Defence College, Australia

Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin, Former Minister of Plantation and Commodities of Malaysia

David Patrician, Moderator, RTL Nord, Germany  (Moderator)

Selim Jahan, Professorial Fellow, BRAC Institute for Governance and Development

9:30 - 10:30    Meghna

Conversation over Tea (By Invitation Only)      

 Artificial Trust: Living, Loving, and Lying in the Age of AI

These days, algorithms are more aware of our anxieties than our buddies. While technology encourages manipulation, it also offers connection. When trust itself turns into a fabrication, what happens to truth, democracy, and intimacy? This debate explores the unsettling beauty of our connected existence by alternating between the personal and the political, from data addiction to digital love, from surveillance capitalism to the commerce of belief.                                                                                          

Speakers:

Pyrou Chung, Director, Knowledge for Development Foundation (Moderator)

Narayan Adhikari, South East Asia Lead , Accountability Lab, Nepal

Maung Min Thu Aung, Accountability & Innovation Manager, Global Network Initiative 

Tanha Kate, Associate Relationship Manager, City Bank PLC

 Conversation over Tea (By Invitation Only)      Chitra

 Truth in Exile: Journalism and the Fight for Credibility

When technology can manufacture any reality, the journalist becomes both witness and suspect. How can the media rebuild trust when truth itself feels optional? A conversation among editors, reporters, and thinkers on courage, verification, and storytelling in a time of noise.

Speakers:

Zain Khan, Editor Diplomatic Affairs, Minute Mirror Newspaper, Pakistan (Moderator) 

Leo Wigger, Fellow for EU South Asia Relations, Mercator Foundation, Germany

Carolina Chimoy, International Correspondent, Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany

Shamsuddoza Sajen, Special Content Editor, The Daily Star

 Colloquy (By Invitation Only)                                                                                                                      Padma

Faith, Fear, and the Future of Humanity

People resort to their faith in times of uncertainty, sometimes to justify violence and other times to seek calm. Fear and spirituality are changing how cultures deal with change, from AI prophets to climate pessimism. Whether believing can still provide meaning without becoming dogma is the question posed in this thoughtful discussion.

 Speakers:

Hadza Min Fadhli Robby,  Associate Professor/Deputy Head for the International Program Department of International Relations, Faculty of Socio-Cultural Sciences, Islamic University of Indonesia

Karori Singh, Former Director and Emeritus Fellow, South Asia Studies Center, University of Rajasthan, India

Sheela Tasneem Haq, Senior Governance Specialist, UNDP  Bangladesh

Mehmet Ozkan, Professor of International Relations      Turkish National Defence University, Turkey

Vikramdeep Johal, Deputy Editor, The Tribune, India

Jovan Ratkovic, Senior Fellow, Agora Strategy Institute  (Moderator)

 11:00 – 11:20        Grand Ballroom

Special Address

Boris Tadić, Former President of Serbia

11:20 – 12:35   Grand Ballroom

Fragility as the New Normal: States in Permanent Emergency

Crises used to be disruptions in the political rhythm. They now embody the rhythm itself. Economic shocks, food shortages, floods, panic, and urgency are all used by governments to maintain power; none of these crises is permanent. Continuity-preserving institutions increasingly rely on improvisation to thrive. People become accustomed to living in a state of uncertainty, as though it were the new standard for stability. Everywhere, power feels erratic, tense, and fleeting. Fragility ceases to be an issue and turns into the system when the exception turns into the rule.

Speakers:

Boris Tadić, Former President of Serbia

Owais Parray, Country Economic Adviser, UNDP Bangladesh

Lulzim Pllana, Ambassador, Republic of Kosovo to Bangladesh

Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, Country Representative, The Asia Foundation (Moderator)

Catherine Cecil, Chief of Party, Democracy International

Ali Riaz, Head of the Constitution Reform Commission

 12:35 – 12:45      Grand Ballroom

Speed Talks

Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

12:45-14:00   Grand Ballroom

The Disinformation Republic: How Lies Became Governance Tools

Across the world, truth is becoming optional. Governments, political actors, corporations, and digital networks construct their own versions of reality—algorithmically amplified, emotionally persuasive, and difficult to verify. In South Asia and the Bay of Bengal region, fact-checkers have recorded unprecedented spikes in politically motivated falsehoods, synthetic media, and coordinated influence campaigns; in Bangladesh alone, 837 unique false claims were identified in the first three months of 2025.

The session will analyze how mis/disinformation reshapes electoral integrity, public trust in institutions (including Election Commissions), and civic participation; explore institutional, media, and civic responses, including regulatory tools, fact-checking, platform responses, and digital literacy; and discuss regional cooperation in addressing cross-border disinformation and hate speech.

Speakers:

Álvaro Beltrán Urrutia, Digital Democracy Analyst, UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean

Andres Del Castillo, Chief Technical Advisor, Electoral Support Project, UNDP Bangladesh
Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Former Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Maung Min Thu Aung, Accountability & Innovation Manager, Global Network Initiative 

Nurul Kabir, Editor, New Age

Anastasia S Wibawa, Project Director, European Partnership for Democracy, Belgium (Moderator)

 4:00 – 15:00                    

Lunch  Oasis                    
15:00 – 16:20  Grand Ballroom                               

Borders That Move: Migration, Morality, and the Politics of Compassion

The map no longer tells the full story. Rivers shift, coastlines vanish, and people cross borders that politics refuses to redraw. Climate change, war, and hunger are creating a slow, relentless migration that no wall can stop and no bureaucracy can fully comprehend. Yet compassion remains trapped behind paperwork and fear. Nations debate sovereignty while families search for safety. The question is no longer who belongs where, but how we choose to define belonging itself. In the age of moving borders, humanity, not geography, must decide who we are.

Speakers:

Mustafa Osman Turan, Turkish  Foreign Relations Advisor to the Mayor, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey 

James Angelus, Founder and President , International Security Industry Council Japan (ISIC)  

Karori Singh, Former Director and Emeritus Fellow, South Asia Studies Center, University of Rajasthan, India 

Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin, Former Minister of Plantation and Commodities of Malaysia 

Narayan Adhikari, South East Asia Lead , Accountability Lab, Nepal (Moderator)

Touseef Mehraj Raina, Co-founder, Jammu & Kashmir Policy Institute, India 

 16:20 – 17:30  Grand Ballroom                               

The Politics of Money: Sanctions, Sovereignty, and the New Economic Iron Curtain

Money has become the quiet battlefield of our time. Sanctions, trade restrictions, and digital currencies now determine which nations thrive and which are cut off from the global bloodstream. Power once measured in armies is now exercised through markets, payment systems, and access to credit. A country can lose its influence without losing a single soldier. The new iron curtain is made not of concrete but of code,  invisible yet impenetrable. And in this divided economy, the real question is whether sovereignty can survive financial dependence.

Speakers:

Clay Wescott, International Advisor, Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) 

Peter Aukamp, Entrepreneur, Rigilog AG / OceanSafe AG / Kingsrock Advisors / Good Carbon, UK

Mohammed Parvez Imdad, Consultant & Policy Advisor, Bangladesh

Sheikh Mohammad Daniel, Director, Sonali Life Insurance, Bangladesh

Aarya Nijat, Co-Founder, Program and Policy Lead, Innovation Ticker (iTicker), USA  (Moderator)

Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury, President, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI)

 17:30  – 18:30                    

Tea / Coffee  Oasis

 18:30 – 20:00   Surma

 Roundtable  (By Invitation Only)

The Politics of Friendship: Alliances, Memory, and Moral Convenience

Frequently, power is concealed by the language of friendship. One day, nations celebrate common principles, and the next, they undermine them. In an era of conflicting truths and shifting allegiances, what does loyalty mean? This discussion looks at how "friends" turn into enemies, how trust is exchanged, and how small countries balance strategy with affection. Who remembers is more important than who wins.

Speakers:

Mustafa Osman Turan, Turkish  Foreign Relations Advisor to the Mayor, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey

Carol Christine Fair, Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University, USA

Kallol Bhattacherjee, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu, India

K.M. Mozibul Hoque, Chairman, Shah Group

Konstantinos Foutzopoulos, Executive Director, Athens Riviera Forum, Greece  (Moderator)

Wu Lin, Associate Professor, China Foreign Affairs University, China 

Marian Vidaurri, Research Associate, Cornell University, USA

Niloy Ranjan Biswas, Professor,  Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka

Meghna

Symposia (By Invitation Only)

Memory and Amnesia: Why the World Keeps Repeating Its Crises

Every generation promises “never again,” yet every decade delivers a new tragedy. Have we lost the capacity to remember, or have we lost the will to learn? This conversation examines how conflict, fatigue, and global distraction render peace unsustainable, and what memory still demands from power.

 Speakers:

Satoru Nagao, Fellow, Hudson Institute, USA  

Mehmet Ozkan, Professor of International Relations , Turkish National Defence University, Turkey 

Navine Murshid Professor, North South University (Moderator)  

Dominique Rakotozafy, Former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Madagascar

Symposia (By Invitation Only)  Chitra

The Last Safe Place: Home, Planet, and the Politics of Care

Everyone is looking for safety—a house, a system, a future that feels livable, as the earth warms and economies break apart. However, is safety possible without justice? This discussion combines ethics, migration, and environment into one pressing query: What does care mean in a heartless world? If we choose to act with empathy rather than just urgency, the Bay of Bengal, which is delicate and stubborn, becomes a symbol for everything we might still be able to conserve.

Speakers:

Sitara Jabeen, Strategic Communications Advisor for Humanitarian Emergencies, Doctors Without Borders, Switzerland

JP Singh , Founder and Managing Director, Starker Global Solutions, India  

Ario Bimo Utomo, Head of the International Relations Department, National Development University Veteran of East Java, Indonesia (Moderator)

Leonardo Paz Neves, Senior Researcher               Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Brazil

Colloquy (By Invitation Only)     Padma

Who Owns the Future? Power, People, and the Politics of Hope

Torn between old rivalries, new technologies, and vanishing certainties, the world feels disoriented. A more subdued query, however, reverberates under the cacophony: who really controls the future? People everywhere feel less in charge of their own lives, even as governments create regulations, businesses create systems, and algorithms direct decisions. People from all walks of life are invited to speak at the BoBC Town Hall about hope, exhaustion, and the pursuit of meaning in a chaotic age. It is not about reaching a consensus; rather, it is about having an honest, open, and unpredictable conversation that only comes from public discourse.

Speakers:
Felix Gerdes, Resident Representative, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung  

Syed Nasim Manzur, Managing Director, Apex Footwear Limited  

Judith Mwaniki, Director, Development Programmes, Consortium for Economic Research and Development Studies, Kenya (Moderator)

Abdulla Rasheed Ahmed, Former Minister of State for Education, Maldives

Veronica Portugal, Founder and CEO, Paideia Civica, Mexico

Imran Karim, Chairman, Confidence Power & Energy PLC and Confidence Infrastructure PLC

Kazi Shah Muzakker Ahmadul Hoque, Director Shah Group and TAS Group

20:30-22:30        Pool Cafe

Dinner (By Invitation Only)

 

Studio Sessions

Titas

11:00 to 11:30
Sanctions and Shadows

conceptual hint:Trade wars and blacklists now shape more lives than actual wars.

guiding questions:

Do sanctions strengthen justice or just shift power

How are regional economies adapting to parallel financial systems?

Is the era of globalisation truly over, or just under new management?

12:00 to 12:30
From Growth to Security

conceptual hint: Economies are no longer measured only in GDP but in survival capacity.

guiding questions:

Can economic resilience replace growth as the new development goal?

How do sanctions, supply shocks, and climate risk redefine stability?

What does economic security mean for a country like Bangladesh today?

13:00 to 13:30
Lines on Water

conceptual hint: The Bay of Bengal is where climate meets conflict and humanity tests its endurance.

guiding questions:

Are rising tides the next trigger of regional displacement?

How can diplomacy respond to a borderless crisis like climate migration?

Can the Bay become a laboratory for cooperative adaptation?

15:00 to 15:30
The Politics of Survival

conceptual hint: When climate disasters strike, politics often decides who gets saved first.

guiding questions:

How do we ensure justice in adaptation and recovery?

Are rich nations ready to pay their climate debts?

What does survival mean for low-lying nations like Bangladesh?

16:00 to 16:30

Heat, Hunger, and Human Security

conceptual hint: Climate change is rewriting the grammar of rights, health, and hope.

guiding questions:

Can traditional security institutions adapt to climate-driven threats?

How do food, water, and health become strategic weapons in a warming world?

What new partnerships are needed to secure the Bay’s human future?