Cameron wishes to visit Bangladesh

British Prime Minister David Cameron has assured her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina of continued support to her government.

At a meeting with Hasina in his 10 Downing Street office on Tuesday, Cameron praised Bangladesh’s socioeconomic development and the development of women,.

He expressed his desire to visit the country to witness this success for himself.

“In the meeting, David Cameron praised our persistent economic progress and achievements in protecting the freedom and rights of women,” prime minister’s Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury told journalists after the meeting.

“He said Bangladesh and the UK have a long friendship and UK’s support for our socioeconomic development would continue in the future,” Chowdhury said.

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told reporters the British prime minister told Hasina he wanted to see with his own eyes how Bangladesh had progressed so much in terms of women’s development and maintained a steady economic growth of six percent.

“He said he also wanted to see how we were countering the challenges of fundamentalist forces. He praised the prime minister, saying she has been tackling this difficult challenge for a long time,” Haque said.

Cameron also wanted to go to Sylhet, he said.

The Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK is composed mostly of people from Sylhet region.

“(Hasina) told him the Bangladeshi government and the people would welcome him with open arms,” the secretary said.

Hasina reached London on a three-day visit on Monday to attend the first Girl Summit.

Before attending the summit, she held a meeting with Cameron for over half an hour.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz accompanied the prime minister in the meeting.

Haque said the meeting took place in a ‘sincere and cordial’ setting.

It was a “demonstration of faith” of Cameron’s government towards Hasina’s government, he said.

“He not only praised but also expressed his trust and promised to work together with our government,” he said.