Brexit with a deal will be good for Bangladesh: UK’s top diplomat

Top British diplomat Sir Simon McDonald has said no matter what happens in Brexit their intention is to have a “good relationship” with Bangladesh.

But he indicated that if Britain leaves the EU with a deal, that will be the best for all the countries including Bangladesh.

McDonald, Permanent Under Secretary (PUS) of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was talking on the “Bangladesh and United Kingdom’s Relations in the context of UK’s exit from the European Union” on Wednesday in Dhaka after the third UK-Bangladesh strategic dialogue.

He co-chaired the dialogue, which the UK holds only with Canada and Israel, with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque at state guesthouse Padma.

The Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organised the lecture after the dialogue to get an understanding of the confusion created over the UK’s upcoming departure from the EU.

Bangladesh enjoys duty and quota-free market access in all the EU countries including the UK.

McDonald was asked about the effect of the UK’s business with Bangladesh in three different circumstances -- a possible Brexit deal, no deal, or a bad deal.

“Our intention, no matter what happens, is to have a good relationship with Bangladesh,” he said.

“In my view, it’ll be easiest if we leave the European Union with a deal because a deal gives us a framework for all our work, not only our relations with the EU, (but also) our relations with countries including Bangladesh”.

“So the best would be leaving with the deal. In my view, the worst is leaving with no deal.

“If we leave the EU with no deal, we will still need a deal with our neighbours on the other side of this collapsing out of the EU. And this will take a lot of our time. So there will be relatively less time to devote to the rest of the world including Bangladesh.”

He also faced questions on issues related to extradition, and sheltering convicted criminals in the UK.

He did not give a direct answer to those questions. But at one stage, without mentioning any name, he said: “This is an issue. It’s a sensitive issue.”

Opposition BNP’s acting chief Tarique Rahman is living in London with his lifetime imprisonment sentence pending in Dhaka. War criminal Chowdhury Mueen Uddin who is sentenced to death for his crimes against humanity in 1971 is also hiding in London.

McDonald said there are many cases between the countries and over 90 percent of those cases are happily resolved. “This is because of the good and smooth work between the agencies and high commissions of Bangladesh and the UK.”

Earlier after the strategic dialogue he said they have touched 17 different policy areas during the meeting in which he led a 21-member UK delegation.

This is a mark of importance his government and country have for this relationship with Bangladesh, he said.