Visiting Royal Saudi Naval Forces Commander Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily on Monday (Sept.2) highly praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her noble gesture of hosting over 11 lakh Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The Saudi Naval chief’s appreciation came when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganabhaban residence on Monday afternoon.
After the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed the waiting news men.
The prime minister said Bangladesh has provided temporary shelter to the forcibly evicted Rohingya people on humanitarian grounds. She, however, said the Rohingyas have outnumbered locals of Cox’s Bazaar creating lots of problems.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia have wonderful relations and hoped that the ties would be deepened further in the days to come. Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has solved maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar amicably.
The Saudi Naval chief expressed satisfaction over the existing friendly and brotherly relations between the two countries and hoped that the ties would be strengthened further in the coming days. He said Bangladesh has a special place in the hearts of the Saudi people.
Pointing out that Bangladeshis are hard working, Vice Admiral Al-Ghofaily wished all the success of Bangladesh.
The Saudi Naval chief informed the prime minister that he had a fruitful discussion with his Bangladesh counterpart on promotion of cooperation between the two naval forces.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury, PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman, Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman and the Saudi Charge d’affaires to Bangladesh were present on the occasion.