Newly appointed British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke on Monday said that her country is keen to enhance the bilateral trade and investment relationship with Bangladesh.
The UK high commissioner said this while paying a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter's official residence Ganabhaban.
PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that during the meeting bilateral relations, security, climate change, Rohingya and regional issues came up for discussion.
They both expressed satisfaction over the ongoing bilateral relations and cooperation, Ihsanul said.
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Sarah Cooke said the UK will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh in its development efforts.
Britain will particularly continue to support the education of girls in Bangladesh, the envoy was quoted as telling the PM.
The new high commissioner put emphasis on imparting the skills development training to the displaced Rohingya people so that they could be re-employed after their repatriation.
Cooke said they want a free, fair and peaceful election to be held in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is due to hold its next general elections by January next year.
In this context, the prime minister said they had to struggle for long 21 years ( from 1975 to 1996) for restoration of democracy in the country.
Read: Bangladesh-UK relations transformed to strategic partnership: British envoy
Following the victory of BNP-Jamaat alliance in the 2001 general election, they celebrated the win unleashing a reign of terrors, killing hundreds of people, raping women and looting villages across the country, said PM Hasina.
"It is we who established freedom of expression and opened the media to the private sector," she was quoted as saying.
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She said once there was only one state-run television channel, but now more than 40 mostly private channels are operating in the country.
Referring to over one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sheltered in Bangladesh, the premier said if the Rohingya issue remains in the international spotlight, their repatriation will be expedited.
The PM warned that social problems in Cox's Bazar region would rise further in case of the prolonged stay of the Rohingyas.
Expressing satisfaction at the Bangladesh-UK relationship on climate issue, she said the two countries signed a climate accord in March this year to further gear up climate action bilaterally and multilaterally.
"BD and the UK are excellent climate partners," said the prime minister.
PM's Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin and PM's Principal Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah were present.