Netherlands praises Bangladesh peacekeepers for outstanding services

Netherlands Foreign Minister Bert Koenders has extolled Bangladesh’s peacekeepers, saying they serve in extremely difficult situations in “an outstanding manner”.

He said Netherlands would “explore the possibility” of deepening the current bilateral cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations.

The foreign ministry said he conveyed this at a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Friday at The Hague, on the sidelines of the global conference on cyber space.

Bangladesh has joined the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), a platform for promoting international cooperation on cyber security, launched at the conference.

Koenders thanked Bangladesh for joining this platform, under which Bangladesh-Netherlands would work on a partnership on “Internet Infrastructure and Maintenance Initiative”.

Ali assured him of taking forward this partnership.

They discussed a whole range of bilateral issues and ways of strengthening the relations further.
In this regard, they agreed on holding ‘Foreign Office Consultation’ between the foreign secretaries of the two countries.

The foreign ministry said Dutch side, among many issues, showed keen interest to work together with Bangladesh on climate change adaptation and mitigation issues.

Ali invited them to enhance their engagement in some thrust sectors like pharmaceuticals, ship building and ICT in Bangladesh.

The Dutch minister also promised to “positively” consider the issues of increasing the number of scholarships for Bangladeshi students, and possible visa waiver for certain categories.

He appreciated Bangladesh’s efforts in combating terrorism and violent extremism, and containing recruitment of potential foreign terrorist fighters.

He also welcomed the announcement of the upcoming city polls in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Ali extended invitation to the Dutch prime minister, and his counterpart to visit Bangladesh at their “earliest convenience”.

Koenders assured of discussing the matter with his prime minister.