Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Japan Md Daud Ali has been instructed not to participate in Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s scheduled visit to Tokyo from 26 to 29 October, an unusual development ahead of a high-level diplomatic engagement.
Daud was asked to report to the Foreign Ministry and subsequently returned to Dhaka. In his absence, Md Nazrul Islam, secretary of the Foreign Ministry, will oversee arrangements for the visit from Tokyo. Nazrul left for Tokyo on Wednesday and will remain there until the prime minister’s visit is completed.
The Foreign Ministry has arranged the official engagements in Tokyo in a way that does not require the ambassador’s participation, according to information available on the matter.
Daud is currently in Dhaka and will not accompany the prime minister during the visit.
The recall of a serving ambassador shortly before a prime ministerial visit is notable, particularly given Japan’s importance as one of Bangladesh’s major development partners. However, no official explanation for the decision was available.
A career diplomat, Daud belongs to the 15th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service’s Foreign Affairs cadre. He is scheduled to proceed on post-retirement leave (PRL) on 26 December this year.
He joined the Foreign Ministry in November 1995 and has served in several diplomatic assignments over nearly three decades.
Before his posting to Japan, Daud served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Romania, with concurrent accreditation to Moldova, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. He was appointed to the post in March 2020, during the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina.
His earlier assignments included serving as Bangladesh’s consul general in Kunming, China, and diplomatic postings in Tokyo, Pretoria and London.
At the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Dhaka, he served as director general of the Consular and Welfare Wing.
Daud obtained a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Rajshahi University in 1989. He assumed his current assignment in Tokyo following the fall of the Awami League government.
As of Thursday (22 October), the website of the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo continued to list Daud as the country’s ambassador to Japan.
