Foreign-Affairs
Outgoing Indian envoy meets Momen, extends Jaishankar’s invitation for event during UNGA
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said if Bangladesh and India can work together, it would be beneficial for both nations and will also contribute to peace and prosperity in the region.
“Bangladesh and India share progressive, comprehensive and substantial cooperation in diverse areas,” he said when outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami met him at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today (September 13, 2022).
The Indian envoy mentioned that the outstanding bilateral ties have turned remarkable because of the ongoing collaboration and cooperation between the two countries.
Read:Dhaka, Kathmandu seek enhanced ties for mutual gains
Foreign Minister Momen also emphasized having a “stronger regional approach” for coping with the challenges brought about by the “new normal” challenges.
The Indian High Commissioner conveyed an invitation from External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar, addressed to the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, for an event on September 22 on the sidelines of the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly.
The Foreign Minister accepted the invitation cordially, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the meeting, they discussed issues of mutual interest and reaffirmed their commitment for further strengthening the excellent relations between the two countries in the days ahead.
The recent state visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India has also added a significant momentum to the bilateral relations which bears the testimony of time-tested friendship, Momen said.
He credited the High Commissioner for his due role during the unprecedented state visits by both the President and the Prime Minister of India to Bangladesh last year.
Read:Dhaka-Delhi relations to be strengthened further, hopes Indian President
The Foreign Minister also appreciated the proactive role of Doraiswami in the joint celebration of Maitree Dibosh (Friendship Day) on December 6, 2021 which was celebrated in 20 selected cities including Dhaka and New Delhi.
High Commissioner Doraiswami thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for extending support and cooperation in discharging his duties during his stay in Bangladesh.
He mentioned that his experience in Dhaka would always be cherished in his memory.
Momen calls for enhanced South-South cooperation of for accelerated development
Noting South-South Cooperation was built on the foundation of solidarity, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said global solidarity is needed to find new ways to rebuild the world.
“And this has to be taken to the next step for national wellbeing, national collective self-reliance and international development goals including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.
Momen made the remarks while delivering his keynote speech at a virtual roundtable titled “Our Common Agenda – A Ministerial Dialogue” organized by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation on Monday.
Read:Dhaka, Kathmandu seek enhanced ties for mutual gains
Dhaka, Kathmandu seek enhanced ties for mutual gains
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has underscored the necessity of further consolidating cooperation in all areas of mutual interest between Bangladesh and Nepal.
He expressed his hope that the ongoing sectoral collaboration will be expanded and pursued during the term of newly appointed Nepalese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari.
Read:Dhaka-Delhi relations to be strengthened further, hopes Indian President
Ambassador Bhandari met the Foreign Minister at the latter's office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday.
The envoy said the bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and Nepal is growing steadily in the sectors such as trade, power, connectivity, education, tourism, and people-to-people contacts.
The Foreign Minister reaffirmed the importance of strong relations between the two countries, mentioning that Bangladesh and Nepal have been maintaining cordial ties since independence, according to the MoFA.
Momen expressed with satisfaction that the two countries recently celebrated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties on April 8, 2022.
He expressed gratitude for the support of the people of Nepal during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and for its early recognition of Bangladesh as an independent country.
Momen recalled the visit of the President of Nepal to Bangladesh on 22-23 March 2021 during the celebration of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which added momentum to the bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Nepal.
Read:US looks forward to “growing its defense cooperation” with Bangladesh: Ambassador Haas
Bhandari underscored the necessity of expanding trade and commerce between the two countries and sought the support of Bangladesh in relaxing tariffs on Nepalese commodities.
He emphasized on regular interaction and stressed on holding the next Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Nepal at an early date.
The envoy further expressed his desire to work for further deepening the bilateral relations during his tenure.
Bhandari presented his ‘Letters of Credence’ to President Md Abdul Hamid on August 31 at Bangabhaban.
Dhaka-Delhi relations to be strengthened further, hopes Indian President
Highlighting the historic bondage, Indian President Droupadi Murmu has expressed hope that the relations between the two countries will further be strengthened in the coming days based on goodwill, trust, understanding and mutual respect.
She made the remarks when outgoing Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Muhammad Imran met her at the latter’s office at Rashtrapati Bhaban on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the High Commissioner conveyed greetings and warm regards to the President and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
They discussed various issues of bilateral cooperation including the recent successful visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India, which has further consolidated the existing relationships between the two neighbouring countries, said the Bangladesh High Commission in a media release.
International Conference on the Fourth Industrial Revolution to be held in city
Awami League's sub-committee on science and technology is going to organise an international conference on the fourth industrial revolution (IC4IR) in the city for the first time.
The two-day conference titled ‘International Conference on 4IR for Emerging Future’ will be held on November 4 and 5 at the capital's Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB).
The theme of the conference is "Journey to Build Smart Bangladesh and Implementation of Delta Plan", according to a media release ahead of the event.
Engineer Abdus Sabur, member secretary of the sub-committee said this conference will create great opportunities for interaction and knowledge sharing among policy makers, industrialists, academicians, engineers, scientists and researchers from home and abroad which will contribute to building a technology and knowledge based society.
Read: PM Hasina: Time to groom the labour force to face challenges of 4IR
Those who are interested to participate at the conference need to submit research paper on different social and technological issues, including the 4IR, education technology, ICT, fuel and power, geo and blue technology, disaster prevention and recovery management, health and life science and applied science and emerging technologies.
Interested participants are asked to submit a summary of the research topic and curriculum vitae (CV) by September 30. Shortlisted candidates will be notified on October 10 after screening of research content and CV.
The participants have to submit their papers for presentation on October 25.
Besides, Students can submit their own designed posters by September 30 to participate in this event.
Best Paper Award and Best Poster Award will also be presented at the conference.
To participate in this conference, the registration fee for Bangladeshi professionals is Tk 1,000 while $ 100 for foreign professionals.
Read: Steps sought for re-skilling, upskilling of RMG workers to face 4IR challenges
On the other hand, a registration fee of Tk 200 has been set for Bangladeshi students and $ 50 for foreign students.
All information about the conference is available at www.4iref.org. Also interested can contact [email protected] or 01550155153.
We set the stage for next 50 years of ties: US Ambassador after meeting PM Hasina
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has said his country “looks forward to growing its defense cooperation” with Bangladesh in addition to deepening ties between the two countries on key fronts.
“I’m excited about the possibilities for collaboration on the economy, development, public health, security, and climate change,” he said after his meeting today (September 13, 2022) with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
They discussed Bangladesh’s successes and the two countries’ strong bilateral partnership over the past 50 years.
Read: 81,000 textbooks, funded by Japan, handed over at Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp
“We set the stage for our nations’ next 50 years of ties,” said the US Embassy quoting Ambassador Haas.
The Ambassador and the Prime Minister discussed 50 years of partnership between the United States and Bangladesh and ways the countries can deepen this partnership.
“We discussed our cooperation on a range of topics, including economic development, security, climate change, Rohingya refugee assistance, and COVID-19,” Ambassador Haas said.
He acknowledged Bangladesh’s remarkable economic progress, its leadership in climate change, its generosity in sheltering Rohingya refugees, and its tremendous contribution to global peacekeeping operations.
Ambassador Haas reaffirmed the United States’ continued support of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities.
Read: “Bangladesh suffering from greenhouse gas impact caused by the developed world”
“During our meeting, I told the Prime Minister that I think one of our proudest joint achievements was in how we worked together to respond to the COVID-19 crisis,” said Ambassador Haas.
“I commend Bangladesh’s effort to vaccinate over 70 percent of its entire population” he added.
The United States has donated nearly 88 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, contributed over $140 million in COVID-19 related development and humanitarian assistance, and collaborated closely with Bangladesh to distribute this assistance throughout the country.
G20 Presidency: India to invite Bangladesh as guest country
India, as G20 Presidency, will be inviting Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as guest countries to its meetings and Summit.
The Ministry of External Affairs, India made the announcement on Tuesday.
Read:“Bangladesh suffering from greenhouse gas impact caused by the developed world”
India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 G20 meetings across the country, beginning December 2022.
The G20 Leaders' Summit at the level of Heads of State / Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 next year in New Delhi.
ISA (International Solar Alliance), CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) and ADB (Asian Development Bank) will also be invited as guest IOs.
In addition to G20 Members, there has been a tradition of the G20 Presidency inviting some guest countries and International Organizations (IOs) to its G20 meetings and Summit.
Regular International Organizations (UN, IMF, World Bank, WHO, WTO, ILO, FSB and OECD) and Chairs of Regional Organizations (AU, AUDA-NEPAD and ASEAN) will be joining, too.
The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
It comprises 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA and the European Union (EU).
Collectively, the G20 accounts for 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
Read:Bangladesh seeks additional supply of LNG to meet growing demand
India is currently part of the G20 Troika (current, previous and incoming G20 Presidencies) comprising Indonesia, Italy and India. During our Presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil would form the troika.
This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies, providing them a greater voice.
81,000 textbooks, funded by Japan, handed over at Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp
Japan has assured of its efforts towards repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.
“Finding lasting solutions to this crisis will be conducive to our pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki.
He said Japan will further cooperate with relevant agencies for better living conditions of Rohingyas and host communities in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char.
Read: Japanese ambassador attends handover ceremony of ambulances in Cox's Bazar
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char Island.
On Monday, Naoki attended the handover ceremony of textbooks, held at the learning centre in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
During the ceremony, in total 81,000 textbooks on Myanmar language grammar, mathematics, history, general science and other subjects were handed over from Komori Takashi, Senior Representative of JICA Bangladesh, to Sheldon Yett, representative of UNICEF Bangladesh, in the presence of RRRC Shah Rezwan Hayat.
The learning materials, which Japan funded, will be used for the implementation of Myanmar Curriculum Pilot, which was approved in January 2020, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Read: Japan needs young engineers, Bangladeshi ICT professionals can fill that gap
Ambassador Naoki expressed his delight that the learning centres reopened after more than one and half a year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We hope this assistance will contribute to the learning of Rohingya children. I believe it is particularly important for them to learn the language, history and culture of Myanmar so that they may reintegrate to the society after repatriating to their home country,” said the envoy.
“Bangladesh suffering from greenhouse gas impact caused by the developed world”
UN Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, is currently on an official visit to Bangladesh.
The special rapporteur’s news conference to share his preliminary findings from the visit will be held virtually on September 15.
This is the first official visit (September 4-15) by the UN expert since he took office on May 1, 2022, said an official.
He is assessing how the adverse impact of climate change affects human rights in vulnerable communities.
Also read: UN acting rights chief for freedom of expression, peaceful assembly in Bangladesh ahead of polls
The special rapporteur is focusing on loss and damages incurred due to climate change and extreme weather.
“The impacts of climate change continue to take a huge economic and social toll on the people of Bangladesh. Studies indicate that globally, costs related to loss and damage from climate change impacts will rise to between $290 billion and $580 billion a year by 2030,” Fry said.
“People of Bangladesh are suffering from the greenhouse gas pollution caused by the developed world. It is time the international community stepped up and took responsibility for these impacts,” the UN expert said.
He is also paying special attention to and exploring how climate change impacts are forcing people to be displaced from their land and what measures are being taken to address these impacts.
The UN expert will identify good practices, strategies and policies implemented by the government of Bangladesh, as the country adapts to climate change and builds resilience to its adverse impacts.
The Special Rapporteur will present a comprehensive report on his visit to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2023.
Ian Fry is the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.
He was appointed by the Human Rights Council at its 49th session in March 2022 and started his mandate on May 1, 2022.
Fry is an international environmental law and policy expert.
Also read: UN for adoption, implementation of national strategy for cutting poverty among Bangladesh's differently-abled
His focus has primarily been on mitigation policies, and loss and damage associated with the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol and related instruments.
He worked for the Tuvalu government for over 21 years and was appointed as their Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment from 2015 to 2019.
Japanese ambassador attends handover ceremony of ambulances in Cox's Bazar
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki visited Cox's Bazar to attend the handover ceremony of ambulances provided to NGO Friendship by Japan through the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects (GGHSP).
"The Project for Provision of Emergency Ambulance Services in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar District" is expected to help improve the medical infrastructure and medical environment by installing three ambulances at the Rohingya camps in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar.
Kazi Golam Rasul, senior director and head of health of Friendship, Md Mamunur Rashid, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar, and Md Shamsud Doza, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, attended the ceremony.
"I hope these ambulances will save the lives and help improve the medical environment of the Rohingya camps," Ambassador Ito said.
The GGHSP began in 1989 and has been contributing to social development at the grassroots level. To date, $16.25 million has been extended to 208 projects in Bangladesh including three projects at the Rohingya camps by Japan.
Also read: Chuadanga: Ambulance received from India remains unused