Russian envoy praises Dhaka's anti-terror efforts

Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Ignatov has said his country is happy to note that the authorities of Bangladesh are actively dealing with the threat of terrorism.

"These efforts already gave results." He also stressed that only through united efforts it is possible to defeat terrorism.

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Responding to a question, the envoy said Russia has "the necessary legal basis to develop cooperation with Bangladesh in this sphere and assist it in fighting terror".

During the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Moscow in January 2013, Russia and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism that is fully relevant nowadays, he told UNB in an interview on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Russia and Bangladesh.

Describing the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) as the major bilateral project, Ignatov said Russia provided an almost $12 billion credit to Bangladesh for this purpose.

"Not too many countries do we give such a big credit. Russia has its own development tasks inside the country, but we trust Bangladesh and we trust its leadership," he commented.

"And we are paying a lot of attention to the safety aspects of this project. Quite a number of Russian experts will take part in the top phase of the RNPP construction. This is the biggest project in the history of Bangladesh," he said.

Regarding the questions raised by some quarters that Russia will not take back wastage from the RNPP plant, Ignatov said this information is "completely baseless and misleading".

He said the spent-fuel, all of it, will be taken back to Russia. "We are expecting to sign -- hopefully in March this year -- an agreement especially on the spent fuel that will be taken back to Russia."

Ignatov said Russian energy company, Gazprom, is going to open its office in Bangladesh soon. 

The Russian envoy also talked about bilateral and economic relations of the two countries, among other issues.