Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni had a brief interaction with United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei.
The interaction took place on the sidelines of the retreat session of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting, said a Foreign Ministry press release. “They discussed follow-up on some of the issues that were raised during their bilateral meeting held in Washington earlier this year,” it said without giving any further details.
The Foreign Minister also met with Canadian counterpart John Baird on the sidelines of the ARF meeting. “Canada will work together with Bangladesh to improve compliance in the RMG sector, including through corporate social responsibility. Canada does not believe that workers in the sector should be punished through any kind of trade restrictions”, the Canadian Minister was quoted as saying.
He offered to send experts to promote building safety, fire safety and labour law compliance issues in the RMG sector in Bangladesh.
Baird said that the Canadian Government would encourage its buyers and retailers to engage with manufacturers and exporters in Bangladesh to improve social compliance in the sector to protect and promote the rights of workers.
Dipu Moni requested Canada to review its current Rules of Origin provision so that it does not adversely affect Bangladesh’s exports to Canada.
During a meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, Dipu Moni stressed the need for addressing the citizenship issue of the Muslim minorities in Rakhine State and urged the Myanmar authorities to resume the voluntary repatriation of Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh.
The Myanmar Foreign Minister said that his Government would actively consider resuming the repatriation process of the refugees already verified last year. He said that the process could start once the housing and relocation of the Muslim minority people currently residing in makeshift camps in the Rakhine State were completed.
Dipu Moni renewed the invitation for the Myanmar President to visit Bangladesh at an early date.
While addressing the ARF Ministerial Meeting, Dipu Moni said, “Bangladesh remains interested in cooperating with the Government of Myanmar in its efforts to address sectarian tensions, particularly in the Rakhine State, that tend to cast an unwarranted shadow over the ongoing reforms”.
-With The Independent input
