State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam has sought Tajikistan’s support for Bangladesh’s aspiration to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), whose members include Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Idibek Kalandar, who met the State Minister at her office at the Ministry on Wednesday, responded positively and expressed Tajikistan’s support for Bangladesh’s SCO membership.
The State Minister said safe, dignified, and voluntary return of the Rohingyas to their homeland remains imperative and sought Tajikistan’s support on the issue at international forums, including the UN.
She described the Rohingya crisis as a collective responsibility that requires a coordinated international response.
Terming Bangladesh an advocate of peace and stability, the State Minister highlighted the country’s extraordinary contribution to UN peacekeeping operations.
She said that, with a view to expanding its diplomatic outreach and geopolitical connectivity, Bangladesh has been focusing on broader engagement with potential but untapped regions, including Eastern Europe and the CIS countries.
The State Minister also emphasised strengthening bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Tajikistan.
Referring to the two countries’ shared cultural values and historical ties, she underscored the importance of expanding cooperation in trade, commerce, economic relations, and investment, while promoting economic diplomacy as a foreign policy priority of the present government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
She also stressed the need for deeper engagement in soft power diplomacy, including education, culture, sports, tourism, technology, expertise and knowledge sharing, skill and vocational training, women’s empowerment, and women and youth entrepreneurship.
During the meeting, the State Minister emphasised greater youth engagement, people-to-people contacts, business-to-business collaboration, and government-to-government cooperation through institutional frameworks, mechanisms, and mutual understanding.