PM Hasina looks forward to working closely with new UK PM Starmer

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has officially congratulated the newly elected British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. 

In a congratulatory letter, she also expressed her government’s interest to work closely with the new Labour government under the able stewardship of Starmer  in further strengthening the long-standing political, economic, climate, and strategic partnerships.

“Most importantly, together we would continue to harness the invaluable contributions of more than 700,000 vibrant and enterprising Bangladeshi-British diaspora to the common good of our two nations,” she said in her letter.

Bangladesh High Commission in London has sent the letter to the newly elected UK prime minister, said an official.

In the letter, Sheikh Hasina conveyed her heartiest congratulations and that of the government and the people of Bangladesh on Starmer’s party's historic victory in the 4 July elections in the United Kingdom and his assumption of office as the prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

“This unequivocal mandate clearly testifies to the trust and confidence of the British people in your leadership to take your country to newer heights of progress and prosperity and promote peace globally,” she said.

The prime minister took the opportunity to reminisce about Bangladesh's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his party Awami League's enduring friendship with the Labour Party and its iconic leaders like Sir Harold Wilson, Thomas Williams KC and Lord Peter Shore, during the glorious War of Liberation in 1971. 

It indeed shaped the Bangladesh-UK relations founded on common values of democracy, secularism, and inclusive and progressive aspirations, she noted.