Singapore, Bangladesh reaffirm warm bilateral relations

Singapore and Bangladesh have reaffirmed their warm bilateral relations and discussed ways to deepen engagement and exchanges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement today.

Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman visited Dhaka from Monday to Wednesday (Oct 24-26) the MFA said.

During the visit, Dr Maliki called on Bangladesh's Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

"Both sides reaffirmed the warm and friendly relations between Singapore and Bangladesh, and exchanged views on developments in Bangladesh and the importance of working together to tackle the common threat of terrorism," the statement said.

Dr Maliki also met and was hosted to lunch by the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, with the two ministers discussing ways to "deepen bilateral engagement and strengthen people-to-people exchanges".

He also met with State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid and discussed possible areas of economic cooperation in the power and renewable energy sectors.

Dr Maliki also held a meeting with Defence & Security Adviser to the Prime Minister Tarique Ahmed Siddique, where they discussed issues related to security, terrorism and radicalisation.

During the trip, Dr Maliki visited a local madrasah and exchanged views with Islamic scholars on various community engagement strategies to counter the spread of radical ideas.

He also celebrated Singapore Airlines' 30th anniversary of operations in Bangladesh together with Minister for Culture Asaduzzaman Noor.

Copyright: The Straits Times/Asia News Network