Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has requested Belarus to open a full-fledged embassy in Dhaka.
The request was made while the Non-Resident Ambassador of Belarus to Bangladesh (based in New Delhi) Mikhail Kasko paid courtesy call on the adviser at his office at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon.
The adviser highlighted that diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Belarus were established in 1992, following Belarus’s independence from the former Soviet Union.
The two countries have bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including trade, agriculture, education, defense, and technology, which are expanding day by day.
Bangladesh is also one of the major importers of fertilisers from Belarus. Due to this growing collaboration, people-to-people contact between the two nations is increasing.
The adviser said that Belarus currently has an honorary consulate in Dhaka. But since its main embassy is located in New Delhi, people of the Bangladesh are facing difficulties in many ways, including delays, increased costs, and other inconveniences while dealing with visa and consular services.
He emphasised the need for a full-fledged Belarusian embassy in Dhaka to facilitate smoother interactions and ease the burden on both countries’ citizens.
In response, Ambassador Mikhail Kasko said that while the establishment of an embassy in Dhaka is not impossible, it requires effective initiative and action from both governments.
The ambassador added that until 2021, Belarus was Bangladesh’s largest supplier of MOP (Muriate of Potash) fertiliser. However, due to US sanctions on Belarus in 2021, Bangladesh was unable to make payments for the fertilisers, leading to a halt in fertilizer imports from Belarus.
Regarding the outstanding payments for fertilisers, the Adviser assured that Bangladesh had settled payments for fertilisers from all other countries and expressed confidence that appropriate steps would be taken to clear the dues with Belarus as well.
He instructed the chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation to hold discussions with the representatives of Belarus and take necessary measures.
The ambassador also raised the issue of the release of a Belarusian citizen imprisoned in Bangladesh, with the home adviser responding that the individual has been serving a life term imprisonment for murder, and the case is currently under review in a higher court.
Moreover, there is no diplomatic agreement between the two countries regarding the exchange of convicted criminals.
The adviser reiterated that while Belarus and Bangladesh maintain friendly relations, a criminal is a criminal regardless of nationality, but Bangladesh will provide maximum cooperation within legal frameworks.
The meeting also discussed various issues of mutual interest, including law and order, security, illegal immigration, human trafficking, and enhancing trade and commerce.
At the beginning of the meeting, the adviser warmly welcomed Ambassador Mikhail Kasko and exchanged pleasantries. The ambassador also invited the adviser to attend Belarus’s National Day celebrations, scheduled to take place in Dhaka.
The meeting was attended by Honorary Consul of Belarus in Dhaka Aniruddha K Roy, Honorary Consul of Belarus in Dhaka; Additional Secretary (Political and ICT) of the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs Khandaker Md Mahabubur Rahman, and Joint Secretary (Political-1) Md Jasim Uddin Khan, among others.