Bangladesh FM meets his Serbian counterpart, chiefs of OPCW and Interpol

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has met his Serbian counterpart at The Hague in the Netherlands and discussed bilateral issues.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 April 2015, 07:07 PM
Updated : 16 April 2015, 07:07 PM

The foreign ministry on Thursday said Ali also met with the heads of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and police organisation Interpol on the sidelines of the ongoing global conference on cyberspace.

During his meeting with Serbian minister Ivica Dacic, who is also the first deputy prime minister of the country, both sides recalled the “excellent” bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the former Yugoslavia.

Ali recalled Yugoslavia’s support during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

He reminiscent the personal rapport between Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and said those historic ties “need to be revived to forge mutually beneficial relations between Bangladesh and Serbia”.

He particularly stressed on economic cooperation and people-to-people contacts.

Serbian Minister Dacic suggested enhancing cooperation in the education sector, and possible visa waiver arrangements between the two countries.

They also discussed the ongoing efforts to normalise relations between Serbia and Kosovo under “a European Union sponsored initiative”.

They agreed to resume exchanges of high-level visits to explore new areas of cooperation between the countries.

Ali invited his counterpart Dacic to visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time. Dacic accepted the invitation.

On the sidelines, Ali also met President of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) Mirreille Ballestrazzi.

They discussed possible capacity building support by INTERPOL for Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies to combat cyber crimes through the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, located in Singapore.

The INTERPOL President also assured of continuing with “need-based training support” for Bangladesh Police.

Later on Thursday, the foreign minister had a meeting with Director General of OPCW Ahmet Üzümcü, at his office in The Hague.

Among other exhibits, the foreign minister saw the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to OPCW in 2013.

The Director General briefed the minister about the background of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the current status with the universalisation of the instrument.

Ali appreciated the capacity building support provided by OPCW to Bangladesh.

He assured of possible cooperation with CWC’s universalisation efforts and invited the DG to visit Dhaka during the Asian Chemical Congress to be held later this year.