Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Sunday urged the international community, including the UK to play a more decisive role in ensuring the voluntary, safe and sustainable repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas, temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh, to their homeland in Myanmar at an early date. Momen made the call as UK Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan met him at the foreign ministry. The foreign minister also briefed the UK minister about the facilities created in Bhasan Char for the Rohingyas.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen Sunday said Bangladesh and Nepal will graduate from LDC in 2026; so, both countries have enormous opportunities to work together for a smooth LDC graduation. He said energy, tourism, education, migration, and connectivity between these countries have many untapped potentials for cooperation. Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar, Momen emphasised exploring possibilities of a free trade agreement and increasing two-way trade for shared prosperity. The Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organised the seminar "Celebrating 50 Years of Bangladesh-Nepal Friendship: Shared Vision of Peace, Progress and Prosperity" in the capital. Major General Sheikh Pasha Habib Uddin, director general of BIISS, delivered the welcome remarks. Nepalese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari, Swarnim Wagle, chair of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) Kathmandu, and Ambassador Mashfee Binte Shams, rector of the Foreign Service Academy, Bangladesh, made presentations.    

Foreign Minister  AK Abdul Momen on Thursday questioned intentions of some people who are talking against Bangladesh and its leader Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, noting that to them "grapes are sour." "It does not matter much. It's unrealistic and not objective," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when a reporter sought his comment on an appeal by 40 world leaders regarding Prof Muhammad Yunus. The global leaders expressed their "deep concerns for the well-being" of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus in an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The letter also appeared as a full-page ad in the Washington Post on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Momen said Bangladesh is a role model of development and the world acknowledged this. He said PM Hasina is a very determined and courageous lady and those people are in a mission to minus her so that an instability can be created here. Highlighting his engagements in New Delhi during G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting, Momen said, "We are very pleased. India has done a very good and unique job." He said Bangladesh conveyed the G20 countries that "We are a peace-loving country. We don't want war. We want peace. Stop this war. Poor people and poor countries are suffering." Momen said he also raised bilateral issues during a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart  S Jaishankar. "We told them to keep the commitment on border issues," he said. Momen said India will send diesel to Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will inaugurate it on March 18.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said one country should not be deprived of its due share, as geographies have destined them to take benefit of nature, including rivers. "We should be mindful that issues of domestic politics should not hurt the sentiment of the majority of people of other countries," he said while sharing a number of proposals for long-lasting friendship between South Asian countries and sustaining peace in the region. Momen said South Asia has one of the lowest levels of intra-regional trade anywhere in the world due to prevailing trade barriers. "A country should not abruptly impose tariff and non-tariff barriers to offset the prospects of trade," he said, adding that trade is the engine of growth and goes hand-in-hand with investment. Momen said all countries should remove restrictions on investment from one country to another country to promote economic and trade prosperity. He was delivering a public lecture on "Promoting Culture of Peace for shared prosperity: A vision for South Asia" at the   Vivekananda   International Foundation in India's New Delhi Wednesday evening. Emphasising track 2 engagements to promote regionalism, the foreign minister said since the region is "very volatile" and at times, "full of emotions," the intelligentsia, including scientists, economists, litterateurs and journalists can make a positive and valuable contribution in "negating any propaganda" and in formulating sound and constructive programmes for the good and well-being of the region. Read more: Bonhomie of Bangladesh-India continues to expand: FM Momen "We need regional peace and stability to prosper and sustain. Therefore, we should promote dialogues among various strata of people, especially academicians, opinion builders and think tanks," he said. Momen said there is an undisputed recognition that the destinies of the neighbouring countries are intertwined, that the stability and prosperity of the region are inextricably linked with each other and that the future of the region can best be served by strengthening mutually beneficial relations with each other. He said the roots of regional cooperation lie in the realisation of social and economic benefits of the peoples of the region irrespective of existing divergences in the political, social and economic performances of any country. "It is more important to promote cooperation rather than division," Momen said. Vivekananda International Foundation Director Arvind Gupta and current and former diplomats, including Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman were present.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said the bonhomie of Bangladesh-India is ever-growing and continues to expand. “Bangladesh-India relationship is multifaceted and multidimensional,” he said, noting that 2022 was a landmark year in the bilateral relations of Bangladesh and India. The Foreign Minister made the remarks while delivering a public lecture on “Promoting Culture of Peace for shared prosperity: A vision for South Asia '' at Vivekanand International Foundation in New Delhi. Read more: We’ll double trade in next 2-4 years with Bangladesh, hopes Argentine FM Vivekanand International Foundation Director Dr Arvind Gupta, current and former diplomats including Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman were present. Foreign Minister Momen is currently visiting New Delhi to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the invitation of the government of India. He is expected to speak at the G20 meeting on Thursday. Among other global issues, he will highlight Bangladesh’s expectations from the G20 platform under India’s Presidency. Momen will have a number of bilateral meetings including with his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting. He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India in September 2022 after the visit of the Indian President and the Prime Minister to Bangladesh in the same year in 2021.

Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Santiago Andrés Cafiero is scheduled to arrive here on a two-day visit on Monday morning to discuss trade and investment issues apart from a formal announcement over reopening of its Embassy in Dhaka. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will have a bilateral meeting with his Argentine counterpart at state guesthouse Jamuna on Monday evening. The meeting is likely to begin at 6pm. Momen will also host a dinner in honor of the Argentine Foreign Minister after the bilateral talks. The Argentine Embassy was previously shuttered in 1978 by the military junta that ruled over Argentina. Diplomatic operations, such as visas in order to travel, have since been handled by the Embassy in neighbouring India. Argentina says it is convenient to reopen the Embassy in accordance with foreign policy guidelines based on “political, strategic and commercial” reasons. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood around US$900 million last year, with a large trade surplus for Argentina, according to data available. Also read: Make more noises to make sure Rohingyas voices are heard: Gambian FM Apart from an announcement of re-opening of the Argentine Embassy in Dhaka, the Argentine Foreign Minister is likely to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi. “There is also the possibility of signing visa exemption agreements on diplomatic and official passports, MoUs on cooperation in agriculture and diplomatic training academies of the two countries,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Seheli Sabrin told reporters recently. Apart from this, the two countries are working on a memorandum of understanding on football related matters, she said. Apart from the import of soybean oil and wheat from Argentina, the two sides are likely to discuss Bangladesh's inclusion in South America's powerful economic alliance Mercosur. Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, is an economic and political bloc originally comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The visiting team is likely to enjoy a friendly match between the two teams comprising Bangladesh's junior footballers as well as meeting with football officials. END/UNB/MK/FH

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday called for concerted global efforts and partnerships to create a global health strategy to respond to future health threats by taking lessons from COVID-19 Pandemic. He made the call while delivering his remarks at the virtual COVID-19 Global Action Plan (GAP) Foreign Ministerial Meeting convened by the State Secretary of the USA, Antony J. Blinken. The meeting was moderated by Coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security of the US State Department Mary Beth Goodman. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered the opening remarks followed by remarks from the Foreign Ministers of Japan – Yoshimasa Hayashi, MinisterMomen, Germany - Annalena Baerbock, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Foreign Ministers and High representatives of other 20 countries and organizations intervened in the meeting.   Momen commended the initiatives and efforts of Secretary Blinken and the Government of the USA as well as contributions by the partners on this platform. Foreign Minister expressed his satisfaction with the multilateral processes including initiatives like ACT-A and COVAX under the guidance of WHO to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with this, he also emphasized expanding the capacity of the healthcare sector and injecting sustained and significant funds for capacity building, especially in lower-income countries. Emphasizing the critical role of vaccines in combating the pandemic, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister stressed making vaccines affordable and accessible to all by declaring it 'Global Public Goods'. He also urged the developed countries for their “Moral Commitment” to support the countries having relatively advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing bases like Bangladesh to develop their own capacity to produce vaccines through granting Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and appropriate provisions for technology transfer. Momen highlighted Bangladesh’s tremendous success in COVID management centred on saving lives, supporting livelihoods- especially of the most vulnerable ones, and posting quick economic recovery under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.   He also stated that Bangladesh surpassed the target set by WHO to vaccinate 70% of the population and is currently on course to reach the landmark of 90%. He added that Bangladesh is open to sharing the experience of its success story of the public health system’s response towards mass vaccination and hospital care. The Foreign Minister further stressed bilateral, regional and global cooperation to continue the work on Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) in the coming days to combat any such future threat. He also expressed the readiness of Bangladesh to contribute to platforms like GAP. He appreciated the idea of organizing the 'Covid-19 Pandemic Summit' to remember that the world had to witness and handle a big global crisis all of a sudden, and the international community stood together to address such an emergency health situation to ensure greater global good. A joint statement was issued at the end of the Ministerial which emphasised the importance of mutual cooperation among GAP partners to combat future health threats. It also reflected upon lessons learned to promote future collaboration to prevent, detect and respond to the next global health security threat. Global Action Plan (GAP) Foreign Ministerial is a platform of foreign ministers which was launched one year ago with the objective of enhancing international coordination to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen readiness for future pandemic threats. The first meeting of the platform was held on 10th November 2021 presided by the US Secretary of State. The next meeting was held on 19th July 2022, presided over jointly by the US Secretary of State and the Japanese Foreign Minister. As part of Bangladesh’s active engagements, Bangladesh co-hosted the 3rd meeting in New York on 23rd September 2022 along with USA, Spain and Botswana. Foreign Minister represented Bangladesh in all the meetings. Also read: US lauds countries, partners including Bangladesh who participated in COVID-19 Global Action Plan

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said Bangladesh wants Pakistan to “seek apology publicly with a formal announcement” for the atrocities perpetrated against unarmed Bangalees in 1971. “You first need to seek an apology publicly. Otherwise, I have a political reason….if it (apology publicly) happens first, I can argue for you. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for me. I can’t do that. It’s pure and simple,” he told reporters sharing what he conveyed to State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Hina Rabbani Khar. Read more: Bangladesh likely to get back the money borrowed by Sri Lanka: FM Talking to media at State guesthouse Padma, Momen said Pakistan wants to enhance relations with Bangladesh but Bangladesh reminded that seeking apology publicly is the first thing to do. Hina Rabbani had a meeting with Minister Momen in Sri Lanka's capital city Colombo on Saturday. Momen visited Sri Lanka as a guest for the country's 75th Independence Day celebrations, for which the guest list was filled up mostly by neighbouring countries at the foreign minister level. Responding to a question, Foreign Minister Momen said the Pakistan State Minister did not make any direct reply to his request but mentioned that they have some limitations. The Foreign Minister said if there is an issue of improving relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan that must begin with working in the economic area. Read more: Dhaka eyes deeper relations with Latin American countries; Argentine FM due Feb 27 He urged the Pakistan State Minister to withdraw the restrictions to make the trade relations fairly balanced. Momen, along with other South Asian ministers, attended the "Independence Parade" featuring march-past, fly-by, and parachute display by the joint forces at the Galle Face Green in Colombo Saturday. State Minister for Foreign Affairs of India V Muraleedharan also met the foreign minister of Bangladesh. They discussed the upcoming bilateral visits and issues of mutual interest and emphasised trade and commerce for the benefit of the people of the two countries. All the ministers from South Asian countries appreciated the current government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the continued economic advancement of Bangladesh. On Saturday evening, Momen attended a reception hosted by the Sri Lankan President in honour of visiting foreign ministers/dignitaries from other South Asian countries – namely, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan – and the secretary general of the Commonwealth as well as state minister for foreign affairs of Japan.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday conveyed to the United States that they, as a government, want a “free, fair, transparent and credible” election and there should be no doubt about that. “No country is perfect, not even the USA. We are trying hard to improve,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that Bangladesh Awami League came to power always through democratic process. Also read: Rab made ‘tremendous progress’ in ‘respecting rights’ while performing duties: Donald Lu observes Earlier, visiting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had meetings with Foreign Minister Momen, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen at the MoFA to discuss strengthening Bangladesh-US relations and the importance of human rights for all. Momen said they will accept if they get any good suggestions and Bangladesh has shown that sign already. Definitely, he said, they will take care of those issues if they find any weaknesses anywhere. “We want people’s welfare.” “They are our good friends. Among the friends we can talk about issues very openly without any reservations. That’s what we did,” Momen said. Also read; Not worried about next election; it'll be held on time: FM The Foreign Minister said there are transparent ballot boxes and a stronger and independent Election Commission. “We believe in people. We want peace across the world. We had very good discussions on many issues.

Ahead of US official Donald Lu's visit, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday said Bangladesh stands ready to do whatever is needed for the people's welfare, noting that the government is still studying the issues related to US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS). "It's not that transparent. It's not mentioned there how it will bring benefits. We are studying," he told reporters while talking about the IPS and its economic component. Donald Lu, who became Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on September 15, 2021, is scheduled to arrive here on January 14 wrapping up his India tour. "We will raise our issues. It's very normal to have good relations between Bangladesh and the United States," Momen said. Read: US envoy Haas praises Bangladesh’s development, eyes stronger future partnership Donald Lu will have meetings on a range of priorities including energy, trade, security cooperation, religious freedom, labour, and human rights. He will meet with senior Bangladeshi officials and civil society leaders to discuss strengthening their bilateral relationship, expanding economic engagement and hear their perspectives on labour and human rights, according to the US Department of State. Momen said Bangladesh and the US believe in the same values and promote democracy and human rights. Bangladesh has set an example in the world by sacrificing 30 lakh lives to establish democracy, ensure justice and human rights, Momen said, adding that "Our principles and values are almost the same."