Bangladesh-Kuwait to fight terrorism together

The decision was reached under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her visiting Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah during a bilateral meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

After the meeting at Hasina’s office in Dhaka, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told reporters, “There are many similarities in the policies of both countries regarding these issues. Both prime ministers of the countries have agreed to work together.

“They feel terrorism and extreme violence go against humanity and the solidarity of the Muslim Ummah,” he added.

Both prime ministers are said to have also mentioned their zero tolerance against terrorism and extreme violence.

Sheikh Jaber also highlighted measures his government had taken to tackle extremism and terrorism, the foreign secretary said.

In the meeting, he also asked about the measures Bangladesh had taken to deal with the twin menace.

Shahidul Haque said Hasina told Sheikh Jaber that Bangladesh was working on these areas under the guidance of the UN and OIC.

The two leaders also discussed current scenario in Syria and Libya and the challenges before the Muslim community posed by conflicts in various regions and the steps need to be taken to deal with the conflict-induced displacements, the foreign secretary told reporters.
“The important role Bangladesh is playing in the OIC, UN and peace-keeping missions was also acknowledged,” he said.

The meeting was ‘very warm and cordial’, the foreign secretary said.

“This visit has opened up a new window of cooperation in the Middle East and will create opportunities for investment,” he added.

The prime minister of Kuwait at the beginning of the meeting said his visit would add a new dimension to the cooperation between the two countries.

Hasina said she hoped that Bangladesh and Kuwait would jointly work for the Muslim world.

“Our prime minister has also urged Kuwaiti investors to invest in Bangladesh’s special economic zones. She said Kuwaiti investors would get special facilities in these SEZs,” the foreign secretary added.

He said Sheikh Jaber accepted the invitation extended to his countru=y’s entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh.

Hasina proposed to assist Kuwait in the energy sector, responding to which her counterpart said they were also interested in helping Bangladesh on the same issue.
PM Sheikh Jaber expressed interest to support Bangladesh in energy exploration in the Bay of Bengal.

The Bangladesh leader proposed joint trade meeting in a bid to further reduce the trade gap.

A proposal was also made to discuss how Bangladesh’s manpower export to Kuwait can be increased after formation of a joint working group.

The Kuwaiti leader lauded the standards of Bangladesh’s armed forces and hoped the defence cooperation between the countries will strengthen.

Regarding the deal on mutual exemption of prior entry visa on diplomatic and official passports, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said, “I think this is a new opening. Citizens of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member countries will be able to travel without visas.”

The meeting discussed facilitating visas of other categories.

The two leaders had an informal private conversation at Hasina’s office before the bilateral meeting.

Later on, Bangladesh and Kuwait officials signed four agreements on investment, aid, military cooperation and diplomatic relations in presence of Hasina and Sheikh Jaber.