The United Kingdom and Bangladesh reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation with the British mission indicating London's intention to work closely with Dhaka across a range of strategic priorities.
British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke met Bangladesh's foreign minister, Khalilur Rahman, at the ministry of foreign affairs in Dhaka Tuesday and had a "very good" talk focused on strengthening an already-longstanding partnership.
"I've just come from a very good meeting with the honourable foreign minister," Cooke told reporters while emerging from the talks. "I congratulated the honourable minister on taking up his new role here in the ministry of foreign affairs."
She said both sides "reaffirmed the strength and depth of the UK-Bangladesh partnership" and discussed expanding cooperation in areas like economic growth, migration, security, climate change and the Rohingya crisis.
"As you know, the UK has a very long-standing partnership with Bangladesh and we very much look forward to continuing to work closely together in this new chapter of the country," Cooke said.
The meeting comes as Bangladesh navigates a new political phase following the formation of its latest government. Rahman welcomed UK's engagement and thanked London for sending Seema Malhotra, the UK minister for the Indo-Pacific, to attend the recent oath-taking ceremony.
Both sides highlighted what they described as deep historical ties and strong people-to-people connections, underpinned by a large and politically influential Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK. The community, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, has long served as a bridge between the two countries.
According to officials, discussions focused on exploring new avenues for collaboration in education, migration governance, security cooperation and climate resilience.
The two sides also addressed the protracted Rohingya refugee crisis, with Bangladesh continuing to host more than a million Rohingya who fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
Rahman urged the UK to use its diplomatic weight -- particularly its position within the UN Security Council and other international forums -- to press for "speedy return" of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com
