Staff Reporter:
Foreign Minister Dr Hasana Mahmud yesterday said that he discussed on multidimensional cooperation between Bangladesh and United Kingdom (UK) as British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke called on him.
“We have discussed on how we would further deepen the ties between Bangladesh and the UK,” he told reporters after the meeting at the foreign ministry here.
The foreign minister said that they discussed on cooperation between central banks of the two countries to check inflation, and in ICT sector, cyber security, climate change and Rohingya repatriation.
“On climate change front, we are working with the UK both locally and in the international forums,” he said.
Terming Britain as one of the major development partners of Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmud said the UK has a significant investment here.
Responding to a question, the minister said that repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar with citizen rights is the only solution of the crisis while they discussed on requirement of huge funds to ensure basic amenities for the huge number of displaced people.
Replying to another question on the human rights issue, Hasan Mahmud said that human rights is a glob-al issue and every country is working for improvement in this area.
“We will defiantly work with the UK on human rights front,” he added.
The minister said he also urged the envoy to ease the process of family reunion of the Bangladeshi expat-riates staying the in the UK.
Responding to a question about bringing back convicted BNP leader Tariq Rahman, the minister said, “Our government is determined to execute verdict of any convicted person. Tariq Rahman is also con-victed … the government will take action on that too at the appropriate time.”
The foreign minister said his British counterpart David Cameron sent a message congratulating him on his appointment as foreign minister of Bangladesh and expressed willingness to work together to strengthen the relations.
The British envoy handed over the letter to the Bangladesh foreign minister at the meeting.
Earlier, after emerging from the meeting, the British high commissioner said the UK would work with Bangladesh to further strengthen Dhaka-London ties on trade and security partnership fronts.
“We discussed working together, strengthening UK-Bangladesh ties, boosting our trade and investment, strengthening our security partnership,” she told the reporters.
Sarah Cooke said the UK would work together with Bangladesh on challenges such as climate change, migration and welfare of Rohingyas.
She said they will also continue to engage constructively with the Bangladesh government and political parties on democracy and human rights issues.
“I had a very productive meeting with the minister this afternoon,” the high commissioner said while describing her maiden talk with the newly appointed Bangladesh foreign minister.
