MM Rahmatullah: Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that the main focus of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s new government will be economic diplomacy and Dhaka will work with countries in both the eastern and western hemispheres.
“I will emphasize economic diplomacy as my main focus,” Dr. Hasan Mahmud said in his first event as the new foreign minister while interacting with the journalists on Sunday.
He said, as part of economic diplomacy, Dhaka is interested in exploring expanded economic relations, especially with African and South American countries.
Hasan Mahmud said that maintaining relations with the countries of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres has emerged as a major challenge against the backdrop of increasing global polarization.
However, Bangladesh will stick to the principles of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Friendship with all, malice to none, he added.
“Different countries have different views and narratives, we value them and at the end of the day we will work,” Mahmud said.
The minister said that both eastern and western countries have now shown interest in working with Dhaka. The new government is not feeling any pressure from outside the country.
He said that the elections were free and fair and the ambassadors of all countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, congratulated the new government and expressed their desire to work with Dhaka.
Mahmud said that relations between the countries of both the eastern and western hemispheres have been strengthened with Bangladesh under the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Masood Bin Momen and Maritime Affairs Unit Secretary Rear Admiral (Retd) Khorshed Alam were present on the event.