Argentine embassy in Dhaka to open on 27 February

Geographically, the distance between Argentina and Bangladesh is more than 17,000 kilometres. The Latin American country is quite surprised to see the love of Bangladeshi people for the Albiceleste.

Bangladesh's craze for Argentina during the World Cup in Qatar has spread to the entire world, not just in Argentina. To deepen the friendship, the World Cup-winning Latin American country is to open an embassy in Dhaka this February. Argentine foreign minister Santiago Cafiero is coming to Bangladesh to inaugurate the embassy in the capital on 27 February.

A delegation of Argentina headed by Franco Seniliani, deputy high commissioner of the Argentine Embassy in Delhi, is coming to Dhaka on Monday in preparation for the opening of the embassy in Bangladesh.

Franco Seniliani confirmed his visit to Dhaka to Prothom Alo on Sunday evening.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, a senior official of the foreign ministry said Argentine foreign minister Santiago Cafiero would come to Dhaka on a three-day visit on 26 February. Apart from inaugurating the Argentina Embassy in Dhaka, he will also pay a courtesy call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He will also hold meetings with foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and commerce minister Tipu Munshi.

Earlier, prime minister Sheikh Hasina sent a congratulatory letter to Argentina president Alberto Fernandez after the country won the FIFA World Cup in December last year.

In response, Alberto Fernandez sent a letter to Sheikh Hasina saying Argentina would open an embassy in Dhaka in 2023 on the completion of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Argentine president also said, “I believe that the people of the two countries will be bound by the bond of brotherhood and harmony by introducing the Argentine Embassy in Dhaka in 2023.”

However, the issue of the opening of the Argentine embassy in Dhaka came to light through a tweet by the country's foreign minister. On 12 December last year, Argentina's foreign minister Santiago Cafiero wrote in his tweet, "Argentina will promote the project to reopen the Embassy in Bangladesh, closed since 1978. On 10 August, I held a meeting with my peer, Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, in this regard.”

The Bangladeshis have been big supporters of the Argentina national football team for a long time. However, the emotion of the people of Bangladesh during the World Cup in Qatar this year has caught the attention of the world.

The reaction of Bangladeshi fans before and after the matches of Argentina was widely spread on social media during the World Cup. Especially after a video of Bangladeshi fan’s crazy celebration after Lionel Messi’s goal against Mexico was posted on FIFA’s official twitter account, the Bangladeshi fans caught the attention of the world.

The video quickly went viral on social media. The incident was also widely publicised in various Argentine media.

Later the Argentina national team thanked the people of Bangladesh in a tweet from the official twitter handle of the team saying, “We thank you for supporting us. They (Bangladeshis) are crazy like us too!”

The Bangladeshi officials believe this would create the chance to increase trade and investments between the two countries. Bangladesh may take the initiative to get access to the Southern common market ‘Mercosur’ with the assistance of Argentina.