{"id":117780,"date":"2021-09-03T16:09:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T23:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117780"},"modified":"2021-09-03T16:09:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T23:09:08","slug":"bangladesh-maldives-ties-skys-the-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/03\/bangladesh-maldives-ties-skys-the-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh-Maldives Ties: Sky\u2019s the Limit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh’s recent\nvisit to Bangladesh has added multidimensionality to the two countries. Because\nthe country has expressed its determination to work together with Dhaka on\nbilateral, regional and international issues. Not only that, a total of six\nMemoranda of Understanding (MoUs) has been signed between Dhaka-Male within a\nmonth; Of which four have been completed in the presence of the President\nduring his visit to Dhaka to mark the Birth Centenary celebration of Founder of\nBangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), a new\ndimension in the region’s diplomacy, shares Bangladesh’s ideological\naspirations with Maldives, the geopolitically important country. For this\nreason, the country intends to work together with Bangladesh while maintaining\npeace and stability. At the same time, the two countries have agreed to\nincrease connectivity by air and sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh\narrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit on the occasion of Bangabandhu’s birth\ncentenary and golden jubilee of independence. During his bilateral meeting with\nPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina, four MoUs were signed between Bangladesh and\nMaldives. The memoranda include the formation of a Joint Commission (JCC),\nregular meetings at the Foreign Secretary level, assistance in the extraction\nof marine resources and cultural exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two leaders also discussed bilateral\ntrade, customs co-operation and avoidance of double taxation, investment,\nmigration issues, human resource and youth development, education, health care\nand medicine, agriculture, tourism, Rohingya issues, climate change issues and\nnatural disasters. And mitigation. The two top leaders also agreed to expand\nmutual cooperation on these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to First Lady Fazna Ahmed, the\nMaldivian President was accompanied by 28 guests, including Foreign Minister\nAbdullah Shahid and the Minister for Economic Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maldivian president’s visit added a new\ndimension to the ongoing goodwill between the two countries. This is especially\na reflection of Bangladesh’s geopolitical importance in the region and the\nsupport it has from neighboring countries. This visit provides an opportunity\nfor the Maldives to support Bangladesh’s rivalry over connectivity in the\nIndian Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh congratulated Bangladesh for its\neconomic progress and socio-economic development by celebrating the Golden\nJubilee across the path of friendship. He also expressed his gratitude to\nBangladesh. Highlighting the assistance of Bangladesh, provided to the Maldives\nduring the coronavirus epidemic, Saleh said the Maldives is grateful for the\nfriendship of the people of Bangladesh. This friendship is helping us to meet\nthe challenges posed by the epidemic. This cooperation is a sign of friendly\nrelations between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the second day of the visit, the two\nleaders held a private meeting before the bilateral meeting. Later, in their\npresence, a memorandum of understanding was signed on four issues, including\nthe formation of a joint commission to strengthen overall cooperation between\nthe two countries. In addition to emphasizing on enhancing communication and\ntrade between Dhaka and Male, the two countries also agreed to sign a\npreferential trade agreement at a bilateral meeting chaired by the two leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Sheikh Hasina-Saleh meeting, the\ntwo foreign ministers of the two countries came to the joint press conference\nat Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka in the afternoon. AK Abdul Momen and\nAbdullah Shahid. Abdul Momen said the two countries have agreed to operate\ndirect ships and flights to the Maldives. Bangladesh and Maldives have agreed\nto sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to boost trade and investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Abdullah Shahid said the\ncountry welcomed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement to increase\nconnectivity. We want to increase communication by air as well as by sea. We\nwill work to maintain peace and stability in the Indian Ocean. Shahid also\npromised that Maldives would stand by Bangladesh in resolving the Rohingya\ncrisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the Bangladeshi expatriates in the\nMaldives, Shahid said the Prime Minister appreciated the decision of the\nMaldivian President to provide free coronavirus vaccine to the expatriates in\nthe country. President Salih praised the contribution of Bangladeshi expatriate\nworkers in Maldives. He met with Abdul Hamid. There is also talk of increasing\nconnectivity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a joint statement issued by the\ntwo countries said that Bangladesh’s support for the Maldivian Foreign Minister\nas President of the UN General Assembly this year has been confirmed. On the\nother hand, Maldives will support the Bangladeshi candidate for the post of\nRegional Director of the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia Regional\nOffice for 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can say, this is the sign of eternal\nbrotherhood between Bangladesh-Male.  Even\nthough the Maldives is a small island state, it has a geopolitical\nsignificance. Bangladesh got multi-dimensional benefits during the visit of\nMaldives President to Dhaka. We have always good relations with the Maldives.\nThis visit has created an opportunity to strengthen this relationship. The\nagreements reached between the two countries strengthen the relationship\nbetween the two countries and reflect the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh\nin the region and the support that neighboring countries have for Bangladesh <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are huge sectors of potentials to work\ntogether such as tourism, tackling covid-19, counter-terrorism approach,\nmaritime cooperation, Climate change issue, fishing, supporting each other at\ncommon regional and international fora. Maldives always supports the stance of\nBangladesh regarding Rohingya refugees\u2019 repatriation, relocation of Rohingyas\nto Bashanchar. These are very appreciable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maldives bilateral relations with\nBangladesh and the maritime cooperation with Bangladesh in the Indian Ocean in\nterms of a regional cooperation or connectivity will give a new dimension to\nMaldives’ assistance there. Bangladesh is going to become a full member of\nColombo Security block.  All in all, it\nwill benefit mutual diplomacy and the economic and other interests of bilateral\nrelations between both parties. The Maldivian economy is not very big, but it\nhas geopolitical advantages and diplomatic importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of Bangladesh and Maldives will be\nbefitted ultimately. Bangladesh-Maldives ties would be more fraternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer: MD Pathik Hasan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dhaka based NGO worker, Researcher and\nFreelance Writer (Particularly on current international affairs)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Maldives President Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh’s recent visit to Bangladesh has added multidimensionality to the two countries. Because the country has expressed its determination to work together with Dhaka on bilateral, regional and international issues. Not only that, a total of six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) has been signed between Dhaka-Male within a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}