ZCZC
BSS-42
FS-BRIEFING
Mujib Barsha will be on focus in 2020: FS
DHAKA, Jan 1, 2020 (BSS) – Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen today said the Mujib Barsha celebration in different countries will be his focus in 2020 as he sought strong teamwork between headquarters and missions abroad in facing existing challenges like the Rohingya crisis.
“The most important event of this year is to celebrate the Mujib Barsha … we will work to hold all the programmes regarding the Mujib Barsha at home and abroad in an efficient way,” he said while exchanging views with Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) members at the foreign ministry here.
The government declared the year of 2020 as the Mujib Barsha in a bid to celebrate the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The new foreign secretary said he would put emphasis on good team work between the headquarters and Bangladesh foreign missions abroad to infuse more dynamism into the country’s diplomacy.
“A strong team will be built in the ministry to maintain continuous contact with our 70-75 foreign missions abroad (in this regard)”, Masud said.
The foreign secretary said the world now expects Bangladesh’s leadership in many areas or looks at Dhaka for taking the leadership role as the country made tremendous progress in recent years.
Masud said they had a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen this morning where they got some directives on key issues, including how to address trade-related challenges in 2020.
Apart from the Mujib Barsha, he mentioned that Bangladesh is scheduled to host a number of global events including D8 and BIMSTEC summits.
About the Rohingya issue, Masud said Bangladesh needs to spend much time in public diplomacy to keep the Rohingya issue under focus in the global arena.
He said the Rohingya issue draws international attention and all including media, NGOs, INGOs, civil society and think tanks will have to work together to keep the international attention to the Rohingya issue unaffected.
“Our key target is to make sure that Rohingyas return to their homeland with dignity and voluntarily. Keeping their (Rohingyas) repatriation in our mind, we will work on all fronts (bilateral-multilateral-legal),” he said.
Regarding Bangladesh-India relations, the foreign secretary said Dhaka-New Delhi relations reached a new height.
Explaining the depth of the relations, he mentioned that even today, the two prime ministers– Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi– exchanged new year greetings over the phone.
Terming the NRC (Indian National Register of Citizens) issue as an internal matter of India, Masud said Bangladesh is keeping eyes on the situation.
BSS/ASG/TA/KU/1942 HRS