Ambassador to stay away from Tokyo during PM's Japan visit, ministry secretary sent to coordinate

During Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to Japan from 26 to 29 October, Bangladesh's Ambassador to Japan, Md Daud Ali, will not be staying in Tokyo. It has been decided to keep him in Dhaka.

For diplomatic matters and overall coordination during this time, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bilateral Affairs), Md Nazrul Islam, has been sent to Tokyo with special responsibilities.

This information was confirmed to Prothom Alo by a high-level government source on Thursday afternoon.

According to diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Tokyo, Nazrul Islam arrived in Japan yesterday.

During the visit, he will be responsible for bilateral monitoring and diplomatic aid while staying in Tokyo.

On 15 October, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a letter calling Daud Ali to Dhaka for discussions regarding the visit. Following instructions to return within two days, he returned to Dhaka from Japan.

Several senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the condition of anonymity, stated that although Daud Ali was summoned to Dhaka for discussions about the visit, he was not involved in the preparatory activities for the visit.

Conversations with former and current diplomats have revealed that in the past few decades, there is no precedent for the absence of Bangladesh's ambassador during a prime minister's visit to an important country. They are also not aware of any instance where an ambassador in office was brought to Dhaka and given special responsibilities for a visit.

According to the itinerary, on 27 October, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will have a bilateral meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The meeting is expected to discuss trade, investment, infrastructure development, and the implementation of the Bangladesh-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Both Daud Ali and Md Nazrul Islam are officers of the 15th BCS (Foreign Affairs Cadre) batch. Before becoming the ambassador to Japan, Daud Ali was Bangladesh's ambassador to Romania. He is scheduled to go on post-retirement leave (PRL) on 7 December of this year.