Staff Reporter :
In a rare move in Bangladesh’s diplomatic history, the government has appointed 33-year-old academic Dr Md Nazmul Islam as High Commissioner to the Maldives.
His appointment has drawn considerable attention within diplomatic circles, with many viewing it as symbolic of a generational shift in the country’s foreign service.
Dr Nazmul, originally from Noakhali, studied Peace and Conflict Studies at Dhaka University from 2009-10, completing his master’s degree in 2014. He later earned a PhD from Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University in Turkey under a government scholarship, where he went on to become an associate professor.
According to a government gazette issued on 27 July, Dr Nazmul was appointed on a two-year contractual basis, requiring him to relinquish all other professional or business engagements. An office order from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 3 August confirmed his assignment as High Commissioner in Malé.
His academic work in international relations, including the widely noted “Power of Bonding” theory, is archived in leading global institutions such as MIT, Harvard and Oxford.
He has served as a special adviser to the Foreign Relations and Protocol Department of the Turkish Parliament-a rare distinction for a non-citizen-and as a guest lecturer at the US Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute.
He has also represented Bangladesh at the UN, OIC and Inter-Parliamentary Union, contributing to discussions on the Rohingya crisis and minority rights.
Dr Nazmul’s career has been shaped by personal adversity. In 2013, while at Dhaka University, he sustained serious injuries in a politically motivated attack by a banned student organisation, allegedly linked to the then-ruling party. The incident prompted him to pursue further studies abroad and deepened his engagement with global geopolitics.
During the mass uprising of 2024, he publicly supported the movement through international media and civil society forums, earning praise at home and abroad. His appointment is being hailed by peers and former teachers as a sign of a new chapter in Bangladesh’s diplomatic outreach.
