Bangladesh sees no grounds for fresh US sanctions

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Thursday expressed confidence in Bangladesh's upcoming January 7 elections being held in a free and fair manner, dismissing concerns about potential US sanctions.

He said: "It is beyond our understanding why there is apprehension of sanctions because elections are yet to be held. If it will be held in a free and fair manner then I think there is no reason to be apprehensive about any sanctions.”

The foreign secretary was interacting with the members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB).

He, however, said that it is the sovereign right of any country to do anything like imposing sanctions.

"But I don’t think it will be logical,” he added.

Asked whether the foreign ministry has necessary preparations to address the challenges of sanctions after the elections, he said the due course of action would be determined as per situation.

"But one should not think that we are not going to ensure holding of free and fair elections keeping in mind of any apprehension of sanctions. The government is committed to hold a free and fair election,” he said.

Responding to a question whether the international community can question about the credibility of the polls due to the absence of a major political parties like BNP, he said the main issue is participation of voters in the polling and holding it in a free and fair manner.

He said that the foreign ministry has been engaged in addressing the challenges of maintaining equal ties with the rival powers in the new multipolar.

“And, in fact, many countries praised us for successfully handling the foreign relations with all the super powers,” he said.

On the Rohingya situation, he said that though everything was set to start repatriation on a pilot basis, it could not be started due to the sudden deterioration of the security situation in the Rakhine State Myanmar.

Responding to a question, he said Bangladesh does not want to see any proxy war in this region and is committed not to allow any country to use its land for waging war against another country.

He also mentioned that in this year Bangladesh was successful in winning elections in many international forums such as the executive director post of the WHO southeast Asia region.

Source: UNB