Sarah Cooke: UK to work with Bangladesh to strengthen ties

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke on Wednesday met with Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and discussed ways to work together to strengthen UK-Bangladesh relations.

After the meeting, she told reporters they had discussed boosting trade and investment, "strengthening our security partnership and working together on challenges such as climate change, migration and the welfare of the Rohingya."

She said the UK would also engage with the administration and parties constructively.

"As you know, the UK government issued a statement on January 8 setting out our position on the election, on democracy and on human rights, and we will continue to engage constructively with the government and political parties on those issues," she said.

Earlier, after the election, the UK government condemned the acts of intimidation and violence that had taken place before and during the campaign period. Such conduct had no place in political life, it said.

Not all political parties had contested the election, the UK said. The Bangladeshi people had not, therefore, had the fullest range of voting options, the UK added, as the BNP had boycotted the election.

Source: UNB