Bangladesh joined a China-led Covid-19 response initiative with four other South Asian neighbours, barring India and Bhutan, on Tuesday.
Under the initiative, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, after the inaugural virtual foreign ministers’ meeting, said a Covid emergency medical storage facility would be set up in the country.
The details of the storage facility and how it would be managed were not discussed. But Bangladesh proposed to have it in a place close to sea for easy transportation, he said.
Bangladesh proposed to keep medical oxygen in the storage.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted the meeting with his counterparts of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Dr Momen, however, said China also welcomed India in the process. Now it is up to India to decide whether it will join or not, he said.
Apart from the medical storage facility, he said China also proposed to have a post-Covid poverty alleviation center to share its own experiences and best practices.
Besides, China also proposed to form an e-Commerce Forum to help rural businesses to survive during the pandemic.
Replying to a question, the foreign minister, however, said China did not offer any financial assistance under the new initiative.
Bangladesh also raised the Rohingya refugee issue in the meeting since China is a part of the tripartite talk to send them back to Myanmar. “They (China) responded very positively,” he said.
The foreign minister said he laid emphasis on “cooperation and partnership” among the countries to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Bangladesh in principle has agreed to the Chinese proposals as we support any move which will bring good for the people of the country. We have agreed that a multilateral platform is needed to tackle Covid,” he said.
“We had already joined the SAARC Covid Fund initiated by India last year and today China has also invited India to join this facility,” he said.
The ASEAN countries – grouping of the Southeast Asian nations - will also have a similar storage facility, Dr Momen said.
