Foreign state minister says Tarique Rahman may meet Trump at UN

❐ Staff Reporter

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has claimed that there is a possibility of US President Donald Trump meeting Prime Minister Tarique Rahman if he goes to the United Nations.

He said this while talking to television journalists at a hotel in Sylhet on Saturday morning, September 5.

Stating that Bangladesh has now adopted a ‘Strong Foreign Policy Framework’, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs said, ‘Our new government is almost six months old; but from the first day, we have implemented this policy so that a balance is maintained among all our foreign relations on the world stage. Whether you say Beijing, Washington, the Middle East and Saudi Arabia or Russia – we have developed excellent and strong relations with everyone. A good working relationship has been developed with Beijing, Washington, Riyadh and other powerful countries in just six months.’

On June 2, representatives of the UN member states elected Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman as the President of the 81st session of the UNGA through a secret ballot in the election held at the UN Headquarters in New York. Referring to this, the State Minister said, ‘Then we won the UN General Assembly session. There, the acceptance and visibility of the current government has reached an unprecedented height. As a result, the strategic importance of Bangladesh in the international arena has increased manifold. China has also seen the two-plus-two proposal; which is an expression of the highest level of strategic relations between the two countries, it has begun. In addition, a letter from US President Donald Trump has arrived from Washington. He has expressed deep interest in meeting our Honorable Prime Minister. He (Trump) specifically mentioned in the letter that he believes that under the leadership of Tarique Rahman, the people of Bangladesh will move towards a bright and prosperous future.’

The State Minister also spoke about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to India. Humayun Kabir said, “The date and time of the Prime Minister’s visit to India have not been finalized yet. Discussions are underway.”

He further said, ‘No matter how many problems or challenges we have with India, the door of dialogue will always be open and that is what we should keep. Naturally, you had a question in your mind about relations with India; I myself am raising that question and making it clear; we want to communicate with India in this way – they are our neighboring country, we need good working relations with them. There are definitely challenges.’

Regarding the Mecca Agreement, Humayun Kabir said, “Today, various influential parties in the world are deeply realizing the importance of Bangladesh in the Mecca Agreement. Bangladesh’s involvement in the Mecca Agreement is not an unusual matter. Today, Bangladesh is contributing very successfully under the UN peacekeeping missions around the world. We are world-class experts in peacekeeping and we have a very skilled and disciplined armed force. As a result, it is natural that the world will be interested in this professional armed force. If we can maintain peace around the world, why can’t we do it in any initiative of the Muslim world? Of course we can. Discussions are also progressing in that direction; let’s see what progress is made. Bangladesh will go wherever it is necessary to go based on national interests.”

He said, ‘In the current highly volatile and changing international political reality, it is not at all the case that being in one alliance means not being able to participate in another. Foreign policy must be very flexible and dynamic to take timely decisions. It is not possible to achieve national interests with any kind of stubbornness or rigidity. As long as your core philosophy is protected—and the core philosophy of our foreign policy is Bangladesh first. We will conduct our foreign policy based on the welfare of the people and the sovereign national interests of the country.’

Regarding the purchase of Boeing aircraft from the United States, he said, “We will have to buy Boeing. We will also buy Airbus occasionally. No one is forcing us to do this. We are buying them from America because there is demand. More will be bought if necessary.”

Member of Parliament Emran Ahmed Chowdhury and BNP Central Co-Organizing Secretary Miftah Siddiqui were present at the time.