Dhaka shares with diplomats what new govt will do

The foreign ministry has shared the "significance" of the just concluded parliamentary election with the diplomats based in Dhaka.

Foreign Minister Dr Ak Abdul Momen on Tuesday briefed the diplomats in a "meet and greet" event organized by the foreign ministry at the open space of the Foreign Service Academy.

"We are looking forward to better partnership, better collaboration and better accommodation," he said as he shared the vision of the government to make a poverty-free, hunger-free country by 2041 and become a developed country.

"But this we cannot achieve without partnership, without collaboration, and in this present world, collaboration, cooperation and partnership in essential to us," he said.

"Over the last 52 years, we achieved many successes and that is also due to partnership and collaboration of friendly countries. So we look forward to have more collaboration and this year and beyond."

The foreign ministry distributed a paper of the government's narrative on the elections to the diplomats highlighting the significance of the elections.

The ruling Awami League returned to the power for the fourth straight tenure through Sunday's elections amid the opposition BNP's boycott.

Foreign observers who monitored the elections in Bangladesh termed the polling free, fair and legitimate.

India, China and Russia were among the countries who greeted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The US and the UK, however, said that due to the absence of opposition BNP, people did not have the choices.

The foreign minister said he was not worried about what the western countries were saying.

"People gave us their mandate. We are happy," he said.

What's next

In the briefing paper, the foreign ministry said this is a "new paradigm in Bangladesh's electoral history within the constitutional framework based on trust, credibility and impartiality in the election process in line with people's aspirations."

The election was important for maintaining a seamless democratic transition process in the country as per the constitution, it said.

This will further contribute to our efforts towards achieving the global threshold I'm democratic practices.

Alongside our economic strides, Bangladesh will also succeed in building a democratic society which our future generations will take pride in.

At the national level, the foreign ministry said, the elections will usher in a fresh opportunity to infuse dynamism into the impressive socio-economic performance sustained by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government during it's past three tenures.

Political stability under democratic rule has contributed a lot to these achievements.

With the initiative of the new government, Bangladesh would be heated at further enhancing cooperation with it's neighbors to ensure shared economic prosperity in South Asia through promotion of greater regional security, integration and connectivity.

The elections also marked the continuation of a democratic Bangladesh polity that remains firmly committed to regional and global peace and security and to eliminating terrorism, and countering radicalization and extremism, while championing international development objectives, said the foreign ministry.