Russia expresses solidarity with Bangladesh on Rohingya issue: Foreign ministry

The Rohingya issues were discussed in detail during the bilateral talks between Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday, the foreign ministry said.

During the meeting, Momen briefed Lavrov on the status of 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, the Rohingyas, who have taken temporary shelter in Bangladesh.

He sought active support of the Russian Federation in expediting the process of repatriation of these displaced people by encouraging Myanmar to create a conducive environment in the Rakhine state for return of the Rohingya.

Lavrov welcomed the idea of involving ASEAN in the repatriation process.

This is the first official visit of the present Bangladesh foreign minister to Moscow and the third as a whole at the invitation of the Russian foreign minister.

The two ministers took stock of the aspects of bilateral ties and discussed important regional and multilateral issues.

They expressed deep satisfaction over the current progress of bilateral engagements.

Momen emphasised the initiatives of the two countries to boost the volume of bilateral trade at the expected level.

He urged the Russian investors and companies to enter into joint ventures or 100 percent-owned business ventures in the 100 special economic zones, which are currently being set up in Bangladesh as well as in high-tech parks.

Lavrov said economic forum in Saint Petersburg would be the ideal platform for Bangladesh to attract Russian and foreign investors.

Momen also sought support from Russia for duty and quota-free access of Bangladesh’s products to the Russian market and also to the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.

A memorandum of Cooperation between the government of Bangladesh and the Eurasian Economic Commission is expected to be inked soon.

The foreign ministers expressed satisfaction at the pace of progress of the project for implementing the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant under the state export credit extended by the government of Russia, which stands as a signature initiative in the bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Lavrov assured Bangladesh of timely completion of the project and training of the essential scientific and technical personnel.

The foreign ministers were happy about the successful operations and engagements of Gazprom in different gas fields of Bangladesh.

They also discussed and exchanged views on the current important global as well as regional issues.

At the end of the bilateral official talks, both the foreign ministers took part at a joint press conference.

Later, Momen met the senior officials of GAZPROM International and discussed geophysical survey and the exploration of natural resources from the Bay of Bengal with the cooperation of BAPEX Bangladesh.

GAZPROM expressed its interest to invest in LNG sectors in Bangladesh.