Abe, Hasina laud each other

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has praised Bangladesh for its 'spectacular success' in economic and social sectors.

He also lauded his counterpart Sheikh Hasina's 'dynamic and visionary leadership' in guiding Bangladesh towards becoming a Middle Income Country by 2021.

According to the joint statement both leaders signed after their summit meeting, Abe also extolled Hasina for “promoting peace, stability and progress at regional and global level”.

He reaffirmed that Japan would remain 'a trusted friend and partner' of Bangladesh in achieving these goals.

Abe arrived in Dhaka on Saturday at about 1pm on a less than 22 hour tour, first by a Japanese prime minister in 14 years.

Hasina announced withdrawing Bangladesh’s candidature for the non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in favour of Japan.

Abe promised to promote trade and investment in Bangladesh.

The 10-page joint statement touched upon a whole area of future cooperation between the two “tested friends”.

In the statement, Hasina also lauded Abe’s leadership.

She applauded Japan's “outstanding achievement” in socio-economic development under the leadership of Abe.

She also noted with appreciation Japan's “valuable contribution in socio-economic and infra structural development in South Asia”.

Cooperation on Peace and Security issues

Hasina apprised that her government maintains a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to all forms of terrorism and remains firm in their resolve not to allow any terrorist individual or entity to use Bangladesh territory against its neighbours and others.

She expressed her satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation on counter-terrorism and showed intention to add further depth and dimension to this cooperation with Japan.

Abe explained Japan’s determination to contribute even more proactively to the peace, stability and prosperity of the international community under the policy of “Proactive Contribution to Peace”.

According to the joint statement, Hasina welcomed Abe’s “increasing efforts to contribute to peace and stability of the region and the world”.

The two prime ministers underscored the importance of the freedom of navigation and shared the view that international disputes and issues should be resolved peacefully.

They maintained all relevant countries should adhere to relevant international law as well as globally agreed norms and practices.

They also underscored the importance of over-flight over the high seas and civil aviation safety, in accordance with the principles of international law and the relevant standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

They reciprocated 'appreciation' for each country's role in the maintenance of global peace and security, especially through the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations as well as peace-building activities under the UN.

Abe appreciated Bangladesh's leadership in the peace-keeping mission and proactive role as a member of the Peace Building Commission.

Japan has already dispatched experts to share experiences of building a Peace Building Centre in Bangladesh.

Both prime ministers expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far towards setting up the centre.

They also expressed satisfaction over the implementation of Japan-Bangladesh-UN tripartite training cooperation on Protection of Civilians through the UN's mobile training teams in November.

They expressed deep concern over the death of innocent civilians in Gaza and welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached between the parties.

They both underscored the need for renewed efforts by the concerned international actors to resume the Middle East Peace Process for ensuring durable peace and security in the region.

Hasina and Abe also expressed their unequivocal support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People to establish a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine.

The two prime ministers shared their concern over the North Korea’s continued development of nuclear and missile programmes, including its uranium enrichment activities.

Abe appreciated Bangladesh for hosting a large number of refugees from Myanmar over a long time.

Hasina explained Bangladesh's recent efforts in this area including the eight round of foreign office consultation between Bangladesh and Myanmar wherein Burmese authority promised to start the process of repatriating 2,415 refugees it earlier verified as its nationals.

Abe was optimist about further progress of dialogue between the two countries and expressed Japan’s willingness of continuing support to Bangladesh “in keeping with the spirit of international burden sharing”.

He will leave Dhaka for Colombo on Sunday at about 10:30am.