Bangladesh-Russia agree to intensify bilateral ties

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that Moscow and Dhaka have agreed to intensify the bilateral ties along with increasing trade and investment cooperation.

"Today, we have agreed to intensify our bilateral context in all sphere," Lavrov told a joint media briefing after his bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at a city hotel here this evening. The Russian foreign minister said they also decided to increase trade and investment relation between Dhaka and Moscow while Bangladesh is the biggest partner of Russia in South Asia after India.

He said they also discussed the Rohingya crisis during the talk. Lavrov said they support continuous negotiations between Bangladesh and Myanmar in finding the solutions of the Rohingya crisis.

He said they also talked about different features of Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant while laid emphasis on its implementation in a consistent manner. Dr Momen said Dhaka is very delighted as the Russian Foreign Minister is visiting Bangladesh for the first time. "We have deep relations with Russia," he added. He said Dhaka maintains a very balanced foreign policy and its objective is to resolve all the issues through dialogue and discussion.

"We don't want war. We don't want to see any proxy war anywhere. We want all issues get resolved through dialogue and discussion," Momen said. He added: "We follow our own interests, and till today, we are maintaining a very independent policy". Bangladesh foreign minister said he discussed Rohingya issue, trade and investment and greater market access to Russia during the talk with Lavrov.

The Russian Foreign Minister arrived in Dhaka this evening on a two-day visit while Momen received him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 6:17pm. This is the first visit to Bangladesh by any Russian Foreign Minister since independence. The Russian Foreign Minister will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday morning.

Lavrov will visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi before departure on Friday. The Russian Foreign Minister will attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10 after completing his visit to Bangladesh.

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