Khabor Wala Desk
Published: 10th January 2023, 4:50 PM
Dhaka maintains balanced foreign policy, Momen tells Chinese FM, Dhaka maintains a balanced foreign policy through engagement with all countries including China, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told his new Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. “I told him (Gang) … we maintain a balanced foreign policy, so we have to walk with all (countries) … we will extend our support to you (China) time to time,” he told reporters after holding a brief meeting with the Chinese foreign minister at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at early hours of today.
The gang made a brief stopover at HSIA on his way to five African countries in a weeklong trip. Momen received him at the airport around 1:58 am and had a brief bilateral talk at the HSIA’s VIP Lounge. The Bangladesh foreign minister said he raised issues of trade, investment, development projects, vaccine cooperation, and the Rohingya crisis during the talk with his Chinese counterpart.
“We believe in one-China (policy). This is our principle,” Momen told the Chinese foreign minister. Raising the issue of the huge trade gap between the two countries, the foreign minister urged China to implement Beijing’s decision to provide duty-free and quota-free facilities for 98 percent of Bangladeshi export products in the Chinese market.
Bangladesh’s foreign minister also thanked the Chinese government for its support to Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic. Describing President Xi Jinping’s visit to Bangladesh in 2016 as a milestone, Momen urged to implement the decisions taken during the tour in terms of Chinese investment in Bangladesh.
Terming China as a major development partner of Bangladesh, he mentioned China’s involvement in a number of important development projects including rail link of Padma Bridge. The Chinese foreign minister invited Momen to visit Beijing at a mutually convenient time. In reply, Momen also invited his Chinese counterpart to come again for a longer stay. The Bangladesh foreign minister later saw off his Chinese counterpart at 2:50 am at the airport.
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