During his conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio couple of days back, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said general election would be held "as soon as possible" and also mentioned reforms.
Foreign Affairs Adviser of the interim government Touhid Hossain Thursday stated this when asked about the talking points of conversation. He also told the reporters that reform and elections were discussed.
"They expressed their support to the government's reform initiatives. During the course of the discussion, he wanted to know about elections and we told that election will be held as soon as possible," the adviser said.
Responding to a question, he said the foreign ministry had requested India for extraditing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in writing and still 'following up' on the issue.
Replying to another question, he said issues related to the renewal of the Ganges Water Treaty and Teesta River water-sharing deal need to be resolved through bilateral discussions.
"We have seen in the last 15 or 20 years that such issues were not resolved proactively by them, it requires bilateral engagement."
He also said the draft MoU regarding the establishment of an office of the Un Human Rights body is sent to them and until finalisation of the draft, he did not want to comment.
But he said both sides had agreed that initially the office will be set up here for three years.
Asked about the 36 Bangladeshis who were arrested by Malaysian police for their suspected link to the ISI, the adviser said the ministry sought details about the arrest.
Investigations are still on and if they would be found guilty, then steps would be taken as per law.
"If they deport some of them, then we will conduct our probe into the matter and will take due measures as per findings," he added.
To another question, he said the Chief Adviser may visit Malaysia in August but the date is not finalised yet.
Responding to another question, he said the foreign ministry is carrying on its own reform and stressed the wellbeing of the expatriate Bangladeshis, especially those in the Middle East.
"We have directed our missions to make sure that expatriate Bangladeshis can sit inside a building when they are waiting for collecting their passports.
"We do not have the right to let them stand under the sun when they visit the Bangladesh Missions for collecting passports," the foreign adviser mentioned.
Responding to a question, he said a crucial meeting would take place in the USA Thursday on tariff negotiations.
"Our commerce adviser and the national security adviser are taking part in the meeting and I hope that we may be able to address the tariff-related problems with the aid after the meeting," he said.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com
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