OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen has reiterated his hope that under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh will continue on its path to peace, development and progress, reports UNB.
He made the remarks while delivering his speech at the OIC senior officials' meeting on Sunday in preparation for the 46th Council of Foreign Ministers.
Secretary General Dr Al-Othaimeen also expressed his felicitations during a call on him by Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque today at Jeddah, said the Foreign Ministry here.
During the hour-long meeting, they discussed matters of common OIC interests and issues of bilateral importance.
Early in the morning, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque opened the three-day long Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah.
The SOM is in preparation for the forthcoming 46th Council of Ministers (CFM) to be held in the UAE later this year.
Bangladesh being the outgoing chair of the 45th CFM had organised the last iteration of the council in Dhaka in 2018.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque opened the Senior Officials Meeting by making a statement and handed over the Chair to the Head of Delegation from the UAE - led by their Assistant Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh delegation included the Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and PR to the OIC Golam Mosih and other senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the Chair's Statement, the Foreign Secretary welcomed the participants from all member states and thanked them for their cooperation and support extended to Bangladesh chairmanship.
He highlighted the achievements of the OIC under the current Chair, Bangladesh.
He referred to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in outlining a concrete pathway for the OIC and Bangladesh's participation in the OIC for a dignified and progressive existence of the Islamic Ummah.
Foreign Secretary Haque underlined that the issue of Palestine and that of the Rohingyas dominated the entire corpus of discussions of the OIC under Bangladesh chairmanship.
Foreign Secretary Haque thanked the member states of the OIC for giving leadership to the Ummah in waking up to the unprecedented humanitarian challenges posed by crises in these two theatres.
He highlighted the important leadership given by Bangladesh in the UN resulting in an Emergency UN General Assembly resolution for the civilian protection of the Palestinians.
Mr. Haque sought similar level of commitment for addressing the Rohingya crisis and called on the OIC Member States to elevate their level of engagement for ensuring a sustainable return and accountability framework for the Rohingyas.
Outlining the Bangladesh tenure at the CFM Chair, Mr Haque highlighted a number of Intergovernmental Groups of Experts (IGEs) chaired successfully by Bangladesh during last one year.
The Foreign Secretary called on the OIC Member States to dream big and substantiate the dream with solid and unflinching action.
Foreign Secretary Haque also participated in a consultation meeting at the Senior Officials' level - of the member states of the newly formed Ministerial Ad-Hoc Committee on Accountability regarding gross human rights violations of the Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Besides, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has congratulated Sheikh Hasina on her re-appointment as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
In a message, he wished well-being and prosperity of the friendly and brotherly people of Bangladesh, said the Foreign Ministry here on Sunday.
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