Banglapress online: China today assured Bangladesh of its help for returning the Rohingyas as Dhaka sought Beijing’s active support in expediting the process of early repatriation of the displaced Myanmar nationals. News: BSS.
The assurance came during the bilateral talks between Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held in Beijing, according to a statement issued by the foreign ministry here.
The foreign minister is paying a three-day visit to China from June 28 to 30 at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi.
During the talks, Ali briefed the Chinese side on the status of the 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingya people who have taken temporary shelter in Bangladesh.
“The displaced Rohingyas are so traumatized that they want solid security guarantee for their return … they want to return to their original villages and not to any camps; they must be accorded opportunities to earn their livelihood,” the Bangladesh foreign minister said.
He sought China’s active support in expediting the process of early repatriation of these displaced people by encouraging Myanmar in creating conducive environment in Rakhine State for return and resettlement of the forcibly displaced people.
The Chinese foreign minister committed his country’s full support to realize early repatriation of the displaced people to Rakhine State of Myanmar and improve the resettlement environment there by helping in building houses and creating economic opportunities, the statement said.
The two sides reviewed the progress made in implementation of decisions of Joint Statement issued during the historic visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in 2016.
They also discussed the progress achieved in implementation of the different projects that were signed during the Chinese President’s visit.
Ali sought support of his counterpart in early finalization and speedy implementation of these projects. Other areas of cooperation like trade, investment, education, consular and cultural cooperation were also discussed in details.
The both sides emphasized the need for continued dialogues between the two countries through high-level interactions as well as people-to-people contacts and agreed to work together closely for the common development of the region.
Earlier on the same day, the Bangladesh foreign minister called on Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan and briefed him about the milestone achievements of Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, especially in socioeconomic areas.
Wang Qishan evinced keen interest in various development programmes in Bangladesh and assured China’s continued support to further consolidate and deepen bilateral cooperation.
He said as the people of Bangladesh is in the right course of transforming their country into ‘Golden Bengal’ with hard work and determination as was dreamt by their Father of the Nation, China is pursuing steadfastly their dream of rejuvenation of the country as articulated by President Xi Jinping.
”China rejoices at the graduation of Bangladesh from LDC status to a developing country,” Wang Qishan said.
Bangladesh Ambassador to China M. Fazlul Karim was present, among others, during these meetings. The bilateral meeting was followed by a joint press briefing and a lunch hosted by the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China in honour of the Bangladesh Foreign Minister.
Later the Chinese Foreign Minister invited Mahmood Ali to an informal meeting where Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister of the State Counsellor’s Office of Myanmar, who is now on a trip to China, joined. “They exchanged views and shared ideas on early repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar,” the statement added.
Banglapress/FS
