Dhaka: Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali has expressed hope that the first batch of 8,000 Rohingyas would be able to return safely to Myanmar’s Rakhine state soon.
The Dailystar.net reports that he thanked the international community for their continued support to Bangladesh for resolving this complex issue with Myanmar.
The Minster made the statement while addressing the second plenary session titled 'Reinforcing the multilateral system: advancing the ASEM partnership on global challenges' in Brussels on Friday.
Mahmood Ali led the Bangladesh delegation in the 12th Asia-Europe Summit (12th ASEM), which was held in Brussels on Oct 18 and 19 under the theme 'Global Partners for Global Challenges'.
In his speech, he projected before the forum Bangladesh’s democratic, secular and progressive identity, as well as its effort to promote global peace, progress and prosperity as envisioned by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The foreign minister also stressed the need for creating greater connectivity between Asia and Europe in order to develop infrastructure, institutions and people-to-people contact for overall progress. In the summit, attended by leaders from 53 ASEM partners, it was decided that Cambodia will host the next summit in 2020.
There were two plenaries and one retreat session during the summit, where leaders of Asia and Europe exchanged views on contemporary issues of global importance such as SDGs, migration, climate change, cyber security, fair trade, women rights, and forcibly displaced people.(UNI)
