Bangladesh didn’t fail to deal with Rohingya issue: Shahriar Alam

Bangladesh has not failed to deal with the Rohingya issue as often said by some critics, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has said.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 March 2019, 04:36 PM
Updated : 16 March 2019, 05:55 PM

“The entire world is with us,” he said while speaking at a dialogue organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh or DCAB in Dhaka on Saturday, marking its 21st anniversary.

Former Foreign Secretary Md Touhid Hossain criticised the government at the event and said the issue would not be solved in 10 to 20 years. “Better make preparations accordingly.”

The state minister, however, said Bangladesh is on the right track and no country will get any scope to criticise it over the issue.

He also maintained that Bangladesh needs to move forward without sticking to single issue as it has many issues to deal with.

The DCAB hosted the dialogue titled “Bangladesh Diplomacy @50: Engaging the World” at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies or BIISS.

Centre for Policy Dialogue or CPD Senior Research Fellow Towfiqul Islam Khan presented a paper on ‘Bangladesh’s Priorities in Economic Diplomacy’ at the event chaired by DCAB President Raheed Ejaz.

BIISS Chairman Munshi Faiz Ahmad and DCAB General Secretary Nurul Islam Hasib also spoke at the dialogue, attended by Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque.

On Bangladesh’s engagement with the world, the state minister said the present government has a massive plan as per the pre-election manifesto of Awami League.

He said they would engage with the world in a bigger way expanding the diplomatic presence of the country.

“We have opened around 17 missions abroad over the last 10 years. Still we have plans to open 10 more in the next five years.”

Alam said over the last few years, they have witnessed the presence of trade delegations with each of the ministers came from the European countries. “It means that Bangladesh is ready for expanding business.”

Earlier, the state minister along with the present and founding members of DCAB cut a cake to open the anniversary celebration and launched the new DCAB website: www.dcabbd.org.

DCAB honoured its founding members for their contribution in establishing this association on March 16 in 1998.

barta24.com Editor-in-Chief Alamgir Hossain, Kaler Kantho Executive Editor Mostofa Kamal, Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta, senior journalists - Anis Alamgir and Aman Ud Dowla – were present, among the founders and shared their memories. The state minister handed over crests to them.

A one-minute silence has been observed paying homage to the victims of Friday’s terror attacks on two mosques in New Zealand that left 49 people, including two Bangladeshis, dead.