The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, arrived on a two-day state visit by a special flight at the invitation of the Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday evening.
Unquestionably, it is a landmark visit that is scheduled to ink as many as 11 cooperation documents - 6 agreements and 5 MoUs.
However, this is not the first visit by a Qatari Emir to Bangladesh for the first time. Then the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani also visited Bangladesh in April of 2005. The latest high-level visit is taking place after 19 years. At the same time, the Emirs visit also is the first high-level state visit of a leader of any Middle East country after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assumed office in January, 2024.
The State of Qatar diplomatically recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign State on March 4, 1974 following the 2nd OIC Summit held in February 1974. Bangladesh opened its diplomatic mission in Doha in 1975. The State of Qatar appropriately reciprocated by opening its diplomatic mission in Dhaka in 1982.
On a broader ground, bi-lateral relations between Bangladesh and Qatar are based on mutual respect, shared values, common religious ground, shared culture, and tradition. People-to-people contacts are one of the dominant features of our bilateral ties. More than 400,000 Bangladeshis work in Qatar and our workers have largely been acknowledged as sincere and hard working by their Qatari counterparts. On that note - we expect the Qatari Emirs latest state visit to result in recruiting more Bangladeshi workers by the Qatar government.
Over the years our bi-lateral ties have strengthened and expanded, and signing of multiple new MOUs and agreements only confirms the fact. Now it is encouraging to note that both countries are looking forward to take bi-lateral ties to the next stage through broader co-operation in the areas of manpower, energy, trade, and investment. Moreover, Bangladesh and Qatar consider each other as important development partners in materialising Bangladeshs Vision 2041 and Qatars vision 2030.
Nevertheless, the Qatari Emirs milestone visit is taking place at a critical time against the backdrop of growing tensions in the Middle East. On one hand, innocent Palestinians continues to embrace death to brutal Israeli military onslaught while on the other mounting warlike escalation between Israel and Iran is threatening an all-out regional war by dividing the Muslim Ummah. Understandably, Apart from areas of cooperation on the bilateral front, global issues, including Palestine-Israel, will also be discussed where Bangladesh will highlight its position.
We expect both countries to take a common stance on all global issues.
We sincerely desire Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thanis visit to be mutually beneficial and a success for both countries.
