Saudi Arabia, other Muslim countries back Bangladesh’s UNGA presidency bid
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Palestine and several other countries have expressed full support for Bangladesh’s candidacy for the presidency of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The assurances came when Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman held bilateral meetings with leaders of a number of key participating delegations on the side-lines of the Executive Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Palestine Friday morning in Jeddah and discussed issues of common interest.
The list includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, Vice-Foreign Minister Waleed A Elkhreiji of Saudi Arabia, Deputy Foreign Minister Musa Kulaklikaya of Turkey, Foreign Minister Varsen Ohanes Vartan Aghabekian of Palestine, and Foreign Minister Sering Modou Njie of Gambia, who is also the chair of the executive meeting.
Bangladesh government has nominated Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman as Bangladesh’s candidate for the presidency of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, scheduled to be held in June.
According to the foreign ministry’s press release, the oaks expressed full support to Bangladesh's candidature for the presidency of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The leaders of the delegations conveyed their heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on the massive victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and his assumption of the responsibility as prime minister of Bangladesh.
They express the confidence that under the able leadership of the Prime Minister Tarique Rahman Bangladesh will speedily attain political stability and accelerated development. They also commended Bangladesh for its unwavering commitment to the cause of Palestine.
Pakistan's foreign minister warmly recalled his meeting with the late former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia last year. He said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif eagerly look forward to visiting Bangladesh to personally great prime minister Tarique Rahman.
Foreign Minister Dar expressed the hope that under the new government in Dhaka the relationship between the two countries will steadily prosper.
Turkish Minister Kulaklikaya recalled the historical relationship between Turkey and Bangladesh and hoped that the relationship between the two countries will expand steadily in multiple sectors in the coming days, said the press release.
Khalilur Rahman expressed sincere thanks to him for the help and support Turkey has been giving to the Rohingya refugees. The two sides resolved to work together to advance an early resolution of the issue. The foreign minister handed over to the Turkish minister an invitation address to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to visit Bangladesh after Ramadan.
The Saudi minister expressed the hope that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would visit the kingdom at a convenient time in the near future. He also extended an invitation to Bangladesh foreign minister to visit Riyadh.
He said Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia offered many opportunities for Bangladesh in a wide range of sectors. He expressed his government's readiness to work with Bangladesh in this regard.
Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman pointed out that there are important opportunities for Saudi Arabia to invest in Bangladesh. The two sides resolved to work together to realise these potentials.
Minister Elkhereiji also requested Bangladesh's support to undertake major reforms to enhance the performance of the OIC Secretariat.
During the meeting with the Palestinian Foreign Minister Aghabekian, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman reiterated Bangladesh's unwavering support to the cause of the Palestinian people.
He stressed that the only solution to the Palestinian issue is the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with the pre-1967 border and East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinian foreign minister lauded Bangladesh for its strong and consistent support to the Palestinian cause. Khalilur Rahman also said that Palestine might no longer be in the case for the Presidency of the UNGA, but it's cause will be fully uphold if elected to this office.
The Palestinian minister said that the Arab-Islamic flow will be for Bangladeshi candidature.
Bangladesh foreign minister offered sincere thanks to Foreign Minister Njie of Gambia for his government's continued active support to the cause of the Rohingya people, including the case it brought before the International Court of Justice against Myanmar for committing genocide against the Rohingyas.
He said Bangladesh stood ready to support the important work of Gambia for the Rohingyas.
Both sides agreed to hold an event on the Rohingya issue during the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Baghdad scheduled for April this year. Foreign Minister Njie expressed full support to Bangladesh's candidature for the UNGA presidency and offered to work with other African countries in support of it.
Humayun Kabir, adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, Ambassador Mollah Farhad Hossain, secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs, and MJH Jabed, permanent representative of Bangladesh to OIC were present during these meetings, reports the press release.