Foreign-Affairs
Bangladesh has all good intentions of enhancing, deepening ties with US: FS
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said the relations between Bangladesh and the US have many factors and determinants and will be deepened and broadened through several dialogues, exchange of visits and track-2 engagements in the coming months.
"We have several dialogues, exchange of visits and track-2 engagements in coming months to garner closer understanding with the US," he said, adding that Bangladesh has all good intentions to "enhance and deepen" the ties.
The foreign secretary was addressing a lecture session as the chief guest.
The Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) organised the session "The Dynamics of Bangladesh-USA Relations: Democracy and Human Rights or Geopolitical Interest?" at its auditorium on Saturday evening.
Bangladesh and the US are looking for greater engagements from March 20 with "Partnership Dialogue."
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting (in-person) with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on April 4. Security, defence, and trade dialogues are also planned in the coming months.
The foreign secretary said as an emerging developing nation, the socio-economic emancipation and progress of its people remains Bangladesh's priority.
"However, maintaining a strategic balance between major global and regional powers is not an easy job, especially in the context of the rising geopolitical tension, often termed as Cold War 2."
He said the unfolding situation in Ukraine will certainly have further geopolitical and geoeconomic implications.
The foreign secretary said the recent US sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and related individuals was "unexpected" to many of them. "And clearly the US tried to keep it a secret before the announcement."
However, the pandemic situation also created a gap between the two sides in terms of not having regular dialogues and meetings, he added.
With the political objective to "malign and discredit" Bangladesh, the foreign secretary said, vested quarters at home and abroad have remained engaged in anti-government campaigns in Washington DC and other major capitals for years.
"We believe that the sanctions are unjustifiable, and were imposed based on fabricated and politically motivated inputs given by the same vested quarters," Masud Momen said.
After the sanctions were imposed on December 10 last year, Bangladesh immediately expressed its deep discontent, summoning the US ambassador in Dhaka, he continued.
However, the situation in Bangladesh is a growing area of interest for the US and other western countries due to Bangladesh's "geostrategic significance and growing economic strength," Masud Momen said.
"So, we need to address the aftermath of the sanctions and related issues through a delicate, well-thought-out and comprehensive strategy."
"We need to remain closely engaged with the US through legal and other measures to convince it to lift the sanctions. Also, we will have to positively engage with it in human rights-related discourse to clarify the efforts Bangladesh is making for the promotion and protection of human rights of our people," the foreign secretary continued.
"Bangladesh's law enforcement agencies' success in curbing terrorism, transnational crimes like human and drug trafficking as well as violence against women, children and minorities will be highlighted."
"The progress made in realising the commitments of our government in areas of media freedom and labour law also need to be showcased effectively," said Masud Momen.
Also, he said, there is always scope for further improvement, including taking remedial measures and making a course correction. "And this needs to be pursued as a continuous effort."
Seeking international cooperation in this arena, including from the UN, the US, European Union and other development partners, especially in the form of capacity building and sharing of best practices, would definitely resonate positively apart from benefiting Bangladesh, Masud Momen said.
The foreign secretary said they need to make efforts, internally and internationally, to promote Bangladesh's success stories and present the balanced perspectives as viable alternatives to the one-sided narratives often being projected by certain quarters.
"So, the objective would be to bolster the relations with the US and other international partners, and also to benefit ourselves by maintaining our national values and interest," he said, adding that the civil society actors can always play a constructive role.
Dr Sujit Kumar Datta, associate professor and chairman of the Department of International Relations, University of Chittagong, presented the keynote paper at the event.
Toufiq Islam Shatil, director general (Americas) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dr ASM Ali Ashraf, professor at the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, attended it as discussants.
BILIA Director Professor Mizanur Rahman delivered welcome remarks.
Ukraine crisis: No direct impact on Rooppur, other projects, says FS
Bangladesh does not see any direct impact on the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and other projects now, but the country is keeping close tabs on the overall situation.
"So far, we think, there will be no direct impact on Rooppur or other projects," Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters after attending a programme in the city Saturday evening.
Read: Around 200 Bangladesh citizens reach Poland, Romania from Ukraine: Shahriar
He, however, said, there might be some effects if the financial transactions are routed through New York.
The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is expected to become operational from next year. Originally, the first unit of the power plant was scheduled to open by 2024 and the second one by 2025.
The US and European allies said Friday they were stepping up sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine by adding measures directly targeting President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, putting diplomatic appeals to one side as Russia's forces closed on Ukraine's capital, according to AP.
Read: Bangladesh again requests Canada to deport Bangabandhu's killer Nur
Earlier, the foreign secretary attended the lecture "The Dynamics of Bangladesh-USA Relations: Democracy and Human Rights or Geopolitical Interest?" hosted by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA).
Dr Sujit Kumar Datta, associate professor and chairman of the Department of International Relations at the University of Chittagong, presented the keynote paper.
Toufiq Islam Shatil, director general (Americas) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dr ASM Ali Ashraf, professor at the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, attended as discussants.
BILIA Director Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman delivered welcome remarks.
Around 200 Bangladesh citizens reach Poland, Romania from Ukraine: Shahriar
Approximately 200 Bangladesh citizens have so far entered Poland and Romania from Ukraine, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Saturday night.
“We’re in touch with approximately 700 Bangladesh citizens,” he told UNB.
The government’s efforts are going on to help Bangladesh nationals get into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, all bordering Ukraine, said officials.
Also read: Flight carrying over 200 Indians from Ukraine lands in Mumbai
A team from the Embassy of Bangladesh in Warsaw is working near the Poland-Ukraine border to assist Bangladeshi citizens wishing to enter Poland. The two countries share an over 500 km long border.
Earlier, Bangladesh asked its nationals stranded in Ukraine to contact the country's diplomatic missions in the neighbouring European countries while Poland and Romania came forward to provide temporary shelters for Bangladeshis.
Bangladesh again requests Canada to deport Bangabandhu's killer Nur
Bangladesh has reiterated its call to Canada for the deportation of Nur Chowdhury, the self-confessed and convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
During a bilateral meeting with Canadian Minister for International Development Harjit Sajjan at the Indonesian Lounge in UNHQs on Friday, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen drew attention of the government of Canada for the deportation of Nur Chowdhury from the country.
Few days ago in Dhaka, Dr Momen raised the same issue with Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Lilly Nicholls.
Also read: Bangladesh reiterates call to Canada for deportation of killer Nur Chy
"We understand it’s an important issue for Bangladesh. I’ll convey this to my capital,” the High Commissioner told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.
Nur Chowdhury has been living in Canada as a fugitive for close to thirty years.
The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh updated Canadian counterpart Harjit Sajjan about the ongoing situation of Rohingya and sought Canada's cooperation in repatriating Rohingyas to Myanmar, according to Bangladesh Mission at the UN.
The Canadian Minister assured his country's support for the repatriation of the Rohingya and praised Bangladesh's generosity in providing shelter and humanitarian assistance to the the persecuted Rohingya population.
Dr Momen invited the Canadian Minister to visit Bangladesh while the Canadian Minister accepted the invitation and said that he would visit Bangladesh at a convenient time.
The Foreign Minister is now in New York on an official visit.
Also read: Joint committee to work to brand Bangladesh in Canada
He will present Bangladesh’s amended documents to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) at the UN on March 1.
Bangladesh eyes huge Saudi investments
Bangladesh expects huge investments from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh deciding to send a 29-member delegation to Dhaka soon for exploring opportunities in public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
Saudi Arabia finds Bangladesh as a top priority country and is interested in a long-term strategic plan where they will contribute to the economic growth of the country, the Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) of Bangladesh has said in a press release.
Officials of the Saudi Ministry of Investment will come to Dhaka with 29 investors soon and explore investment opportunities in PPP projects.
The Ministry of Shipping in Bangladesh presented three PPP models -- Chattogram Port Authority, Container Terminal-2 of Payra Port Authority, and Container Terminal-2 of Payra Port Authority.
In fact, at a recent virtual conference, the Authority in Bangladesh and the Saudi Ministry of Investment explored the potentials of PPP projects in this country.
At the conference, Ahmad Kaikaus, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, highlighted the close ties between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
"It was a new beginning for Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said, lauding Riyadh for selecting Bangladesh for investments.
Sultana Afroz, Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of PPP Authority, chaired the programme.
She gave an overview of PPP projects in Bangladesh, the legal framework and incentives provided by the government to attract investments.
Senior officials, under the leadership of Badr Al Badr, CEO, National Companies Promotion Program (NCPP), attended the event, which was witnessed by Essa Yousef Al Duhalian, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh.
Al Badr nominated Red Sea Gateway Terminal to undertake Patenga Container Terminal Project (if selected by the Bangladesh authority) and other PPP projects related to sea ports in Bangladesh.
A government to government memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia and the PPP Authority, Bangladesh, was signed on 28 October, 2021.
KL to cooperate with Dhaka on agricommodities: Malaysian Minister
Malaysia is looking for a greater collaboration with Bangladesh on trade and investment with particular focus on agricommodities like palm oil, rubber and timber, says visiting Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin on Friday.
“Bangladesh is a potential country for us to enhance trade relations,” she said, adding that Malaysian companies are keen to inject more investment in these areas.
While talking to a small group of journalists at a city hotel in the evening, Kamaruddin said they want to strengthen their presence in South Asia and beyond showing Malaysia’s clear dominance in agricommodities.
She appreciated the business environment in Bangladesh which is “improving a lot” and described the policies of the government of Bangladesh as “very friendly” for foreign investment.
She said Malaysian palm oil export to Bangladesh grew by 13 per cent in December 2021-January 2022 period and termed this sharp increase “very encouraging.”
Total agricommodity trade export value from Malaysia to Bangladesh in 2021 was RM 846 million.
She said Malaysia is now looking for ways to establish “downstream industries” in Bangladesh for the commodities, which are under her ministry, especially top three commodities - palm oil, rubber and timber.
The minister said Malaysian businesspeople are actively considering setting up joint venture industries in Bangladesh.
To see the near potential we can work on south Asian countries, she said.
She said the growing infrastructure projects, housing projects, furniture and footwear industry in Bangladesh pushed the demand for Malaysian timber and rubber.
So, she said, there can be so many downstream factories here, which will process and use these products.
Bangladesh keen to increase engagement with ASEAN: PM
Terming Bangladesh a geographically contiguous neighbour of the ASEAN, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her country’s keen interest to further strengthen institutional engagements with the important regional organization.
She sought a more pro-active support from the ASEAN to ensure an "early, safe and dignified" repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people whom Bangladesh temporarily sheltered purely on humanitarian grounds.
The PM said this in her message to President of the Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte on the occasion of the 50 years of diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and the Philippines, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Read: General Assembly President lauds Bangladesh’s leadership at UN
Mentioning the phenomenal socio-economic achievements of Bangladesh over the last 50 years, Sheikh Hasina reiterated her commitment to working with the international community to ensure a safe, equitable and sustainable world for the posterity.
President Duterte said, “Bangladesh, having transitioned to one of the most successful economies in the world, will play a greater role in the South Asian region and beyond”.
The two leaders vowed to further strengthen the shared journey of the two friendly countries in the next 50 years and beyond.
Sheikh Hasina recalled with gratitude the early recognition the Government of the Philippines accorded on 24 February 1972 to an independent Bangladesh.
She also fondly recalled the stop-over in Manila by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his return journey from Tokyo in 1973 to express his gratitude to the friendly Government and people of the Philippines for their magnanimous gesture.
Both the leaders praised the strong, cooperative and friendly relations that have been nurtured between the two friendly countries in the last five decades, including trade, investment, education, tourism, cultural exchange, people-to-people contacts, etc.
Read:Dhaka issues helpline numbers for Bangladeshis stranded in Ukraine
The two leaders expressed optimism that the two countries would explore newer areas of cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two friendly peoples.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Philippines counterpart Foreign Secretary Teodoro L. locsin, Jr. also exchanged messages on the occasion of the fifty years of bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and the Philippines.
General Assembly President lauds Bangladesh’s leadership at UN
President of the General Assembly (PGA) Abdulla Shahid has applauded Bangladesh’s “remarkable leadership, productive engagement and significant contribution” in recent times in various aspects of the United Nations.
The PGA was talking to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at a bilateral meeting held at the UN Headquarters on Thursday.
On 7 June 2021, the United Nations General Assembly elected Abdulla Shahid of Maldives as President of its seventy-sixth session, which runs from September 2021 until September 2022.
Shahid mentioned that Bangladesh is now holding three important positions - President of the UN Women Executive Board, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, and co-facilitator of the IMR. “All these signifies Bangladesh’s leadership role at the UN.”
At the outset of the meeting, Momen presented two proposals to the PGA.
These are, according to the Bangladesh Mission at the UN, to organize a high-level event on ‘Review of the implementation of SDGs’ and to take initiative to create a forum of the Finance, Foreign and Development Ministers for developing countries under South-South Cooperation (SSC).
Read:Bangladesh keen to increase engagement with ASEAN: PM
The foreign minister expressed concern on the funding gaps in the implementation of SDG, particularly in view of the Covid -19 pandemic.
Dhaka issues helpline numbers for Bangladeshis stranded in Ukraine
Bangladesh has asked its nationals stranded in Ukraine to contact the country's diplomatic missions in the neighbouring European countries while Poland and Romania came forward to provide temporary shelters for Bangladeshis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday issued helpline numbers for the stranded Bangladeshi nationals to help them get into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, all bordering Ukraine.
For Slovakia and Hungary, Bangladesh nationals have been asked to get in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Austria.
They can reach Rahat Bin Zaman, Deputy Chief of Mission on +43 688 60344492 and Jubayadul H Chowdhury on +43 688 60603068 in Vienna.
For Romania and Moldova, people in distress can get in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Romania, Bucharest: (i) +40 (742) 553 809, (ii) Mir Mehedi Hasan (tel & WhatsApp group) +40 (742) 553 809.
For Poland, they can contact the following people at the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw -- Md Masudur Rahman, +48 739 527 722: Md Mahbubur Rahman, +48 579 262 403; MST Farhana Yesmin, +48 690 282 561; Billal Hossain, +48 739 634 125; and Md Rabbani, +48 696 745 903.
Poland has "opened its border with Ukraine" to let in Bangladeshi nationals from the neighbouring country in the wake of a Russian invasion.
Bangladesh citizens carrying passports can secure a travel pass at the border to enter Poland without a visa, but they need to carry two colour passport-sized photos with them, the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw said in a notification on Friday.
Bangladesh does not currently have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's Embassy in Poland only acts as Ukraine's de-facto diplomatic mission.
Read:Poland 'to let in stranded Bangladeshi nationals from Ukraine'
A team from the Embassy in Warsaw will also reach the Poland-Ukraine border on Saturday to assist Bangladeshi citizens wishing to enter Poland. The countries share an over 500km-long border.
Poland 'to let in stranded Bangladeshi nationals from Ukraine'
Poland has "opened its border with Ukraine" to let in Bangladeshi nationals from the neighbouring country in the wake of a Russian invasion.
Bangladesh citizens carrying passports can secure a travel pass at the border to enter Poland without a visa, but they need to carry two colour passport-sized photos with them, the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw said in a notification on Friday.
Bangladesh does not currently have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's Embassy in Poland only acts as Ukraine's de-facto diplomatic mission.
A team from the Embassy in Warsaw will also reach the Poland-Ukraine border on Saturday to assist Bangladeshi citizens wishing to enter Poland. The countries share an over 500km-long border.
Also read: Go to Romania, Bangladesh tells its nationals in Ukraine
The Embassy also urged the Bangladeshi expats who are in far away areas from the Poland border to observe the situation carefully before moving ahead.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has advised its citizens who are in the south and southwest of Ukraine to go to Romania.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Friday said the Romanian government will make arrangements for their two-day stay and then arrange for their return to Bangladesh under the supervision of the Bangladesh Embassy in Bucharest.
Earlier, on Thursday, State Minister for Foreign Md Shahriar Alam said that the government would arrange chartered flights to bring back Bangladeshis from Poland if they can safely enter Poland with visa on-arrival on an emergency basis with the support of the Polish government.
“Our first task is to bring our citizens to Poland safely from Ukraine,” he told reporters at his office, adding that they had already talked to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Biman Bangladesh Airlines to that end.
The State Minister had also said they would finalise the modalities of evacuation from Poland and "will talk to foreign airlines too, if needed".
Also read: Bangladesh to arrange evacuation flight from Poland after its citizens’ entry from Ukraine
"Poland will allow Bangladeshis to stay for 15 days upon their arrival from Ukraine and the government of Bangladesh hopes to bring back its citizens much ahead of the 15-day timeline."
The State Minister had also said that the Bangladesh Embassy in Poland "is taking preparations to provide accommodation facilities for Bangladeshis’ stay there until their evacuation". "They (Bangladeshis) need to come to the Polish border from Ukraine making their own arrangements."
An estimated 500 Bangladeshi nationals, including students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.