Keep up pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas: PM.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called upon the international community including Vietnam to keep up pressure on the Myanmar government to take back their forcibly displaced nationals from Bangladesh.

“Myanmar must take back their nationals from Bangladesh and we want the global community to help their repatriation from here,” she said when visiting Special Envoy of the Vietnamese Prime Minister and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dzung paid a courtesy call on her at her official residence Ganabhaban here this morning.

After the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.

The prime minister said Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Myanmar for repatriation of the Rohingya people. “But the implementation process to this end is being delayed,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina mentioned that her government is developing an island to relocate the Rohingya people there temporarily. “But they will have to go back their country,” she said.

The Vietnamese deputy foreign minister highly praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for giving shelter over 11 lakh Rohingyas in Bangladesh describing it as a huge humanitarian task.

“It’s a big burden for Bangladesh,” he said.

In this connection, Nguyen Quoc Dzung said Vietnam will donate 50,000 US dollars as part of its solidarity with Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue.

The prime minister recalled that both the countries had struggled a lot for independence. “We used to observe the Vietnam’s struggle for independence
during our student life and your fight had inspired us a lot in our liberation war,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina mentioned that a youth delegation visited Vietnam after the Bangladesh’s independence. “My brother was included in the youth team,” she said.

The prime minister said Bangladesh gives importance to connectivity and boosting up trade and business between the two countries.

She said there is a huge potentiality for expanding cooperation in the field of agriculture sector between the two countries. “Vietnam has a good experience in the agriculture sector and we can share it for further development of the sector,” she said.

The Vietnamese deputy foreign minister said tourism sector will have to be developed in both the countries for strengthening connectivity.

At the outset of the meeting, Nguyen Quoc Dzung conveyed the Vietnamese prime minister’s greetings to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Our government and the people are very much happy over your reelection as the prime minister,” he told Sheikh Hasina.

The Vietnamese deputy foreign minister mentioned Bangladesh as their traditional friend, saying that there are a lot of similarities between the two countries.

He put emphasis on increasing people-to-people contact for bolstering the bilateral relations further.

On behalf of their premier, Nguyen Quoc Dzung invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Vietnam.

PMO Secretary Sajjadul Hassan was present on the occasion.

Later, Chief of Naval Staff of UAE Rear Admiral Pilot Saeed Bin Hamdan Al-Nahyan paid a courtesy call on the prime minister at the same place.

The press secretary said both the prime minister and the UAE navy chief stressed the need for strengthening cooperation in different fields, including training, between the naval forces of the two countries.

Mentioning that there is a manpower demand in the UAE Navy, Saeed Bin Hamada said Bangladesh Navy could play a role in this regard.

He expressed his country’s interest in the development of Bangladesh’s shipbuilding sector.

In this connection, the prime minister said Bangladesh’s shipbuilding sector is flourishing fast due to various initiatives of her government.

Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral AMMM Aurangzeb Chowdhury, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman, PM’s Military Secretary Maj Gen Mia Mohammad Zainul Abedin, PMO Secretary Sajjadul Hassan and the Bangladesh Ambassador to the UAE and the UAE Ambassador in Dhaka were present on the occasion.