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FM takes ex-diplomats onboard virus fight


Published : 03 Jul 2020 09:55 PM | Updated : 04 Sep 2020 12:54 PM

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen in a rare gesture has consulted the former foreign secretaries of Bangladesh to devise a plan for the fight against the pandemic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said he held a virtual interaction with the former foreign secretaries and ambassadors to discuss strategies for overcoming the challenges of the pandemic and outlining Bangladesh's stance at the bilateral, regional and international level.

M R Osmani, Faruk Sobhan, C M Shafi Sami, Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, A K M Atikur Rahman, Md Shahidul Haque, Md Abdul Hannan, Humayn Kabir, Ahmed Tarik Karim, and Mohsin Ali Khan participated at the discussion.

They stressed on taking “short-term, mid-term and long-term plans” for Bangladesh to face global challenges during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Momen presided over the meeting which was also joined by state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam and foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

The foreign ministry said the former diplomats discussed taking different bilateral, regional and multilateral diplomatic measures from the geo-political viewpoints regarding the pandemic crisis.

They suggested initiatives so that Bangladesh still enjoys quota-free advantages though it will graduate from least developed country status. They admired the recent quota-free advantages that Bangladesh gained.

They welcomed the initiatives to strengthen bilateral and regional relations with: India, China, the US, countries of European Union and regional associations.

They lauded Bangladesh government’s role in international platforms for ensuring access to potential COVID-19 vaccine equitably by the developing and least developed countries (LDCs).

They also praised Bangladesh government’s participation in the COVID-19 fund, created by the European Union as well as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s address to the recent Global Vaccination Summit.

Dr Momen said the suggestions made by the former diplomats would be taken with high importance in different activities of the foreign ministry.

He thanked them for joining the discussion and said such kind of dialogue would be continued in the days to come.
Earlier, the foreign minister held a discussion with ambassadors of Bangladesh's foreign missions abroad.