Dhaka-Beijing bilateral meeting to talk on bilateral and regional issues
07 August 2022
Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque receives the Chinese Foreign Minister upon his arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Saturday. NN photo
Diplomatic Correspondent :
The much attention-drawn meeting between Bangladesh and China is going to be held in the capital on Sunday to talk on various bilateral and regional issues.
The meeting will be held between Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in a city hotel in the morning.
Sources said that the meeting will focus on Rohingya issues, food and fuel security, regional and global alliances.
Diplomatic sources said the meeting would be highly significant amid the global economic meltdown caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and the Taiwan tensions trigged by the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to the island.
To make the meeting fruitful, Wang Yi arrived in the capital a day ahead. He was received by Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 5pm on Saturday.
Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen and Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming were present at the airport.
From the airport, Chinese FM paid a visit to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi-32 to pay tribute to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam received him at museum.
Wang Yi placed floral wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu to show his respect to the leader. Later he visited the Museum accompanying with Shahriar Alam. After the visit, he signed the visiting book of the museum.
Sources said that Chinese FM has a schedule to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday apart from his bilateral meeting with Dr Momen before leaving Dhaka.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said that Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader hosted a dinner in honour of the Chinese foreign minister on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, said, "We hope the visit will provide an opportunity to further implement the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and elevate the relationship to a new level."
She said that they 'highly value' their relationship with Bangladesh and the Chinese foreign minister is visiting Bangladesh at the invitation of foreign minister AK Abdul Momen.
"They will have an exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of shared interest," Chinese spokesperson Chunying said.
When Wang Yi arrived in Dhaka, Dr Momen was out of the country for attending the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Cambodia from 5-6 August. He, however, was expected to return home on Saturday night.