The Crime Desk: British Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Affairs Catherine West, who is visiting Dhaka, said that the UK expects equal participation of all parties in the politics of Bangladesh. He said this after a meeting with Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday (November 17).
Catherine West said that the United Kingdom is looking at the vision of Professor Yunus in the democratic future of Bangladesh. In this case, according to what kind of assistance the interim government wants, the UK will try to support the people of Bangladesh at the next stage.
Catherine West referred to political compromise in her speech. In this context, a journalist asked about getting equal opportunities for all political parties in the country. Catherine replied, of course. Ashra hopes Prof. Yunus will express his views on the democratic future of Bangladesh, and it will unfold. And the United Kingdom will try to support the people of Bangladesh in the next phase.
When asked whether there was any discussion in the meeting about the return of BNP Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, who is in the UK, he said, “We did not discuss any separate issue.” But we want to support the government. Because now a transitional period is going on. We want to support the interim government in all the work it is doing.
Catherine said, I came to Bangladesh after 11 years. As such, this is my second visit to Bangladesh. Very happy to be here now as Indo-Pacific Minister. I had a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Adviser of the Interim Government. As we know, the interim government of Bangladesh seeks to restore peace and order, ensure accountability, and is committed to advancing national reconciliation. And we have full support for this.
He further said that in the meeting with the foreign adviser, I welcomed the determination of the interim government to build a better democratic future for the people of Bangladesh. We have a very strong friendship with the people of Bangladesh, so we want to build a strong relationship. We talked about how we can work together on issues like the economy, trade, security, immigration, and climate change.
Regarding the discussion on the Indo-Pacific issue, Catherine said the Indo-Pacific issue has been discussed. We have today announced a further £10 million in support for the Rohingya.
