Dr Muhammad Yunus has wrapped up his four-day successful visit to New York on the occasion of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in which he delivered his landmark speech focusing on a number of Bangladesh and global issues.
He, in particular, called upon the international community to engage with 'new Bangladesh' anew that aims to realise freedom and democracy for everyone. Explaining the situation of his taking over as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh he said that country's youth and all stratum of the society together entrusted him and his council of advisers with enormous responsibilities to reconstruct a decaying state apparatus.
Accordingly, he pointed out, the interim government has established at least six independent commissions to reform electoral system, constitution, judicial system, civil administration, law and order situation with a few more similar commissions in the offing.
Dr Yunus also assured foreign businesses of not letting their business interests to be affected in Bangladesh under any circumstances and highlighted extensive reforms initiated by his government in the banking and financial sectors to create a conducive environment for trade and business. He added that Bangladesh will adhere to all international, regional and bilateral instruments to which the country is a party.
Additionally, on the sidelines of the UNGA, Dr Yunus attended at least 40 big events and conferred with many key global leaders including US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and discussed a number of very critical issues ranging from Palestine conflict and climate change to Rohingya crisis.
Among his bilateral discussions, Dr Yunus's rare tete-a-tete with Joe Biden, first time in the history of Bangladesh that a US President met with the head of the Bangladesh government on the sidelines of the UNGA, was prominent. Joe Biden assured Dr Yunus of the fullest US support and cooperation in the transition and rebuilding of Bangladesh.
This means that Bangladesh's relations with the United States are now set to reach a new height in a changed political scenario in which both countries have developed a new entente which was not seen during the rule of the previous government.
Antonio Guterres has also extended UN support to carry out necessary reforms in Bangladesh in a meeting with Dr Yunus. They also discussed climate change and its impact on the 170 million people of Bangladesh, the Rohingya crisis, and the UN-led fact finding mission, which is investigating atrocities committed during the July-August mass uprising in Bangladesh.
There was also a high-level separate discussion on the Rohingya crisis in which Dr Yunus sought the international community's continuous support and focus on the issue. He also put forwarded a set of three proposals to solve the Rohingya problem.
We are in belief that the interim government with the global support drawn during the UNGA will be able to carry out relevant reforms in order to put Bangladesh on the road to credible democracy.
