Lord Purvis of Tweed, Liberal Democrat working peer and Foreign Affairs front bench spokesperson at the House of Lords, UK paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud, MP this afternoon at the latter’s office. Foreign Minister warmly welcomed the Lord of Tweed on his maiden visit to Bangladesh.
Terming the Bangladesh-UK bilateral relations as profound, the Foreign Minister recalled the historic 8 January 1972 visit to London by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his way to independent Bangladesh from the captivity in Pakistan and expressed gratitude to the UK government and people for their unwavering support to Bangladesh’s independence. He referred to the tremendous socio-economic transformation of Bangladesh over the last fifteen years under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and in this connection, acknowledged the UK’s development assistance and cooperation to Bangladesh’s graduation to a developing nation.
Lord Purvis of Tweed thanked the Foreign Minister for his warm welcome and informed him about his visit to Cox’s Bazar to see VSO operations in Ukhiya and Ramu. The Minister was also apprised of VSO activities in Bangladesh over the last 50 years with a total of 100,000 volunteers covering areas of inter-alia climate change adaptation, awareness against child marriage, girls’ education advancement, and community health with the support from the UK FCDO.
The visiting Lord Purvis of Tweed underscored the opportunity to enhance exports from Bangladesh to the UK, particularly certified safe and organic food from Bangladesh to the UK. The Foreign Minister and Lord Purvis shared the contribution of the British-Bangladeshi Diaspora, currently the 3rd largest ethnic Diaspora in the UK, to the economies of both countries. Lord Purvis also added that he had been advocating on a continued scale of support from the UK to resolve the protracted Rohingya crisis.
Both sides shared views on the war in Gaza and the indiscriminate killing of civilians there and underscored the importance of the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict for a just and lasting solution and enduring peace in the region.