Russia-Bangladesh relations get added impetus

In a simple ceremony held today, Sunday, at the residence of the Russian ambassador to Bangladesh, Ashiq Imran was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Chattogram.

Terming the event as a historic moment, Russian ambassador Alexander Ignatov said, “For the first time in the history of our relations we are appointing an honorary consul in Chattogram. With the appointment of the honorary consul, we expect that our interests in Chattogram will be properly looked into and safeguarded.”

“Relations between the two countries are booming,” the ambassador said adding “we have a growing trade volume, presently USD 1.7 billion, with the growth over the last year more than 20 per cent.”

“We have good political relations. We have a running inter-governmental commission on trade, economy and scientific relations. Just a couple of weeks ago we had the second meeting of this commission in Dhaka.”

Speaking about various Russian projects in Bangladesh, ambassador Ignatov highlighted the Rooppur nuclear power plant project, mentioning that they have provided scholarships for students to study nuclear science in Russia so that the trained personnel can run the Rooppur plant. He also mentioned Gazprom, the energy company to drill for gas and oil.”

The Russian envoy mentioned that they had closed down their consulate general in Chattogram earlier this year but open it up again if necessary. The appointment of the honorary consul gave added impetus to Russia-Bangladesh relations.

The newly appointed honorary consul of the Russian Federation to Chattogram, Ashiq Imran, said it is a matter of great pride to represent Russia in Chattogram as the honorary consul. “Relations between Russia and Chattogram are based on a very strong historical bonding, he said.
“The body of Russian sailor Yuri Viktorich body remains lying in the soil of Chattogram. He sacrificed his life during the mine cleaning operation of Chattogram in 1972, and thus makes a strong historical bonding between the two countries,” added Ashiq Imran.

“Being in the capacity of honorary consul,” he continued, “all my efforts will be to develop the relationship between the two countries, bilateral relationship, as well as to make ties between the private sector businesses- private sector to private sector. Now there are strong business relations between government to government, but only the private sector business can boost trade. The trade volume which is now 1.7 billion USD can be doubled or tripled if we can involve the private sector. This will be our goal and target to make this happen.”

Speaking to Prothom Alo about emerging regional and global strategies, ambassador Alexander Ignatov said there have been all sorts of strategies here in the region before. Referring to the US Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s growing presence in the region, he said, “We are absolutely not taking sides. We are not interfering in other countries’ relations like some other countries do. We are developing good and stable relations with Bangladesh as we did before in different fields of cooperation."

“We have very good relations with China. We see no threat in Chinese presence. We support the idea of the New Silk Road. If it is beneficial for different countries, let them support it too.”