United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made a telephone call to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday and requested her to send one battalion of Bangladeshi soldiers for its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. “Yes, the UN Secretary-General called the prime minister over telephone in the evening (Bangladesh time) and asked her to provide one battalion soldiers with necessary equipment to be deployed in South Sudan,” Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to UN Dr AK
Abdul Momen told The Independent from New York on Tuesday night.
Asked about the prime minister’s response, he said, “I don’t know exactly what the PM said.”
However, Dr. Momen said, “We will contribute soldiers in South Sudan. But, I am afraid we will not be able to send a full battalion as asked by the UN chief.”
“It will be very difficult for Bangladesh to send one battalion comprising 850-900 soldiers as they will need to be equipped as the country has recently committed 1,450 soldiers to Mali under UN peacekeeping operation,” he said.
According to international media, UN Secretary-General, on Monday, proposed to reinforce UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) with 5,500 more troops against the deteriorating situation in South Sudan.
Replying to a query, Dr. Momen said no political issue was discussed during the conversation between Ban Ki-moon and the prime minister.
-With The Independent input
