Foreign friends not to put pressure on govt over polls: Shahriar

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said no foreign country will put pressure on the government supporting the demand of BNP or any banned political party over the next national.

“We don’t think they (diplomats) will waste time on these issues. There’s no such scope either. We understand it through our constant engagement with them over the last few years,” he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry.

The State Minister said Bangladesh is now stronger enough standing on its own feet, and there will be no incident like the past.

BNP has been seeking a neutral government to oversee parliamentary elections while the government says the elections will be held as per the Constitution. 

The State Minister, however, said the support from the organisations which remain with Bangladesh in making the election and election process easier, modern and time-befitting one will continue in the coming days. “We don’t see any confusion about elections.”    

Responding to a question, Shahriar said the government is working to ease problems for expatriate Bangladeshis ensuring services to them in a modern way.

“We want to provide better services for the expatriates by digitalising the services with introduction,” he said.

He said the Bangladesh Mission in Malaysia is facing a tremendous pressure to resolve the problems faced by Bangladeshis there in terms of regularisation of their jobs and extension of job tenures. 

“We’re working to increase workforce there for the mission to help the expatriates in a speedier manner,” he said.

Responding to a question on Rohingya issue, he said Bangladesh remains bilaterally engaged with Myanmar apart from its deep engagement internationally with sustained international pressure to resolve the crisis.

The State Minister said they are on track in terms of timeframe mentioned in the bilateral document signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23.

A Joint Working Group (JWG) has already been formed and its first meeting will be held sometime in January.

“We’re upbeat. We’re confident and we’re hopeful. We’re bilaterally engaged,” he said describing the international supports that Bangladesh gained on the issue.

He said the government is committed to a safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation and others should not be worried about that.

Earlier, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo met the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and discussed various issues, including the Rohingya one.

Source: unb