The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a special meeting on the challenges of developing Bangladesh-India bilateral relations. The decision was taken at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on Sunday (August 23).
The meeting also recommended holding workshops and seminars through embassies to increase publicity at the political level to stop propaganda about Bangladesh abroad.
The meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban was presided over by the chairman of the committee Muhammad Farooq Khan MP. At the time, members of the committee, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Nurul Islam Nahid, Golam Farooq Khandaker Prince, Md. Abdul Majid Khan, Md. Habibe Millat, Nahim Razzak, Kazi Nabil Ahmed and Nizam Uddin Jalil (John) and concerned officials were present.
According to committee sources, the meeting recently raised questions about the sudden visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Bangladesh.
Asked about this, committee chairman Farooq Khan told reporters that the ministry was asked about the ‘unofficial’ visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Shringla. We asked, why did he come on an unofficial visit? Can a diplomatic visit become unofficial? According to the ministry, such a visit can take place. No previous scheduled visit. Its main purpose was to convey the message of the Indian Prime Minister to the Bangladesh Prime Minister.
The meeting will discuss the challenges of the current relations with Bangladesh and its neighboring countries and the development of relations in the next meeting, the chairman of the committee said, we have decided to discuss the matter in detail at the next meeting. There will be a closed door meeting on that day. However, the date was not finalized at the meeting. Who will attend the meeting will be decided in advance.
Meanwhile, the committee meeting suggested taking necessary steps to strengthen economic ties between Bangladesh and Germany and involve German investors in the country's development activities. At the same time it was recommended to take necessary steps to export pharmaceuticals to Central Asian countries through Uzbekistan and import yarn instead of cotton.
Besides, the meeting discussed in details the work plan and activities of the newly appointed ambassadors to the Bangladesh missions abroad and the details of the recent blast in Beirut, Lebanon and the loss of expatriate Bangladeshis.
At the beginning of the meeting, prayers were offered for the salvation of the souls of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family martyred on August 15, 1975 also those who were martyred in the 1971 Liberation War and those who died of coronavirus