DHAKA: The government will continue its pro-active foreign policy towards strengthening every facet of its relations with immediate neighbor Myanmar for reaching higher trajectories of bilateral as well as regional trade, economy and connectivity.

Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs came up with the assertion during a call on him by visiting US Senior Advisor on ‘Burma’ (Myanmar) Judith Cefkin, at the former’s office Monday morning, says a press release.    
The minister thanked the US government for its continued engagement with Bangladesh on the question of Bangladesh-Myanmar relations and its humanitarian support for the long pending caseload of nearly 30,000 Myanmarese Muslim refugees in Bangladesh awaiting repatriation back to Myanmar.  

“The US thanks Bangladesh for its generous refuge provided to the Myanmar  refugees and other undocumented Muslim population from Myanmar over the decades, and appreciates Bangladesh socio-economic constraints and challenges in dealing with this protracted humanitarian situation,” said the US Adviser who made a brief stop-over in Dhaka on her way to Myanmar.      

Expressing satisfaction over the recent dynamics of the Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral relations including operationalization of direct air connectivity and coastal shipping services between the two neighbours the minister reaffirmed the newly elected government’s continued commitment to pursue dialogue with Myanmar at all levels in order to resolve the outstanding issue of early repatriation of refugees and undocumented people from Myanmar bilaterally, as has been done in the case of the maritime boundary delimitation.

In this context, minister reiterated Bangladesh’s interest in contributing to the socio-economic development of Myanmar’s Rakhaine State bordering Bangladesh in order to help create an enabling environment and livelihoods for the voluntary return of the Myanmar refugees and other undocumented people living in Bangladesh.

Judith Cefkin reaffirmed that the US Government will continue to attach high priority to addressing the situation of the Myanmar Muslims in Rakhaine State and elsewhere and would continue to urge the Myanmar authorities to actively support inter-faith dialogue in order to promote reconciliation between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in the Rakhine State.

She said Bangladesh could play a crucial role along with other regional countries in sharing best practices and experiences with Myanmar in this regard.

BDST: 1820 HRS, FEB 03, 2014