Bangladesh to open missions in 3 more countries soon
Dhaka is taking preparations to open three more overseas missions shortly.
These missions with ambassadorial level representations will be opened in the capital of the Maldives, Jordan and Brunei, according to sources.
With these, Bangladesh will have 46 ambassadorial level missions and 10 sub-missions.
After the opening of a full-fledged mission in the Maldives capital of Male, Bangladesh's diplomatic presence in all the SAARC countries will be ensured. Presently, Dhaka's high commissioner to Sri Lanka is concurrently accredited to the Maldives. Brig (retd) Khalequzzaman Chowdhury, former ambassador to Yangon, is tipped to become Bangladesh's first envoy to Male.
Maj Gen Amsa Amin, presently ambassador to Brazil, is likely to be made the country's first envoy to Jordan. Dhaka's new mission in Brunei will be headed by a political appointee, Mumtaz Hussain, who is Social Welfare Secretary of the ruling Awami League. The country previously had a mission in Brunei which was closed nearly 10 years back.
Meanwhile, the government is yet to decide on opening a mission in the Austrian capital of Vienna. The Austrian government is learnt to have expressed its desire to provide free accommodation for Bangladesh embassy. Vienna's importance as a diplomatic hub is internationally acknowledged. After New York and Geneva, Vienna houses the headquarters of several important UN agencies and international organisations, making the establishment of a mission there of substantial importance, diplomatic observers pointed out. Besides, Austria is also a gateway to the Eastern European countries. 130 countries have missions in Vienna, including almost all the SAARC countries.
Besides Vienna, Dhaka needs to examine seriously the opening of missions in other European capitals including those of Norway and Hungary. Both these countries have resident missions in Dhaka. Bangladesh is the largest recipient of Norwegian assistance in Asia while Hungary has become a member of NATO and has one of the most important emerging economies in East Europe, sources pointed out.
Meanwhile, Dhaka is planning to close its mission in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments