Dhaka ready to work closely with Modi govt

Bangladesh looks forward to work closely with the incoming Indian government to take bilateral relations to “a greater height”, the foreign minister has said.

Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali also said Dhaka will continue its foreign policy of “good neighbourliness and regional cooperation”.

He made the remarks while briefing the diplomats of SAARC and ASEAN countries in Dhaka on Sunday following Jan 5 elections.

He congratulated the people of India on “successfully” concluding the world’s largest democratic exercise and peaceful transition of power.

The Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam attended the briefing, the third in a series.

The foreign minister thanked them for the “strong show of support” by their countries to Bangladesh during the “challenging” parliamentary elections, boycotted by the opposition BNP.

The present government “deeply” values bilateral relations with the South and South East Asian “neighbours”.

According to Ali, the government will continue to pursue “good neighbourliness and regionalism” for grater inter-regional economic cooperation and connectivity for the benefit of the people.

He thanked them for the message of felicitations to Sheikh Hasina on her assumption of office for the second successive term.

He mentioned “the deep rooted history, heritage, tradition and values” that Bangladesh shares with the people of South and South Asia and said his government was ‘very much on track’ to intensify the cooperation.

Ali spoke particularly of the regional and sub-regional mechanism including SAARC, BIMSTEC and BCIM.

According to the foreign ministry, the envoys reaffirmed the commitment of their governments “to consolidate political and economic relation with Bangladesh both bilaterally and under the regional cooperation framework”.

They congratulated Bangladesh on hosting the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka that is set to start functioning soon.

The ASEAN Ambassadors expressed their deep desire to enhance cooperation with the present government in the areas of trade, power, infrastructure and shipping.

They stated that the promotion of ‘ASEAN Dhaka Committee’ – a forum of ASEAN Ambassadors – for Bangladesh is a testimony to ASEAN’s continued engagement with Bangladesh.

Advisers to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs HT Imam and International Affairs Gowher Rizvi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Huque were present during the briefing at the state guest house Padma.