FM Dr Khalilur to leave for Saudi Arabia Wednesday

Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman is scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia early Wednesday, marking his first foreign visit since taking office.

He will attend a Foreign Ministers-level meeting in Jeddah to discuss recent Israeli decisions concerning settlement expansion, annexation and claims of sovereignty in the occupied West Bank.

The emergency meeting of Open-ended Executive Committee will be held on Thursday at the General Secretariat of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, a senior official said.

Humayun Kabir, Adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, will accompany the Foreign Minister on the visit. 

On the sidelines of OIC meeting, they are expected to hold bilateral meetings with their counterparts from other member states.

The OIC meeting aims to coordinate member states’ positions and discuss possible actions in response to what it describes as illegal measures taken by Israeli authorities. 

These include the recent decision to initiate procedures to settle lands in the occupied West Bank under the designation of “state property,” which the OIC says is part of broader efforts to alter the legal, political and demographic status of the occupied Palestinian territory and undermine the two-state solution.

Bangladesh has described Saudi Arabia as a trusted and longstanding partner, recalling that diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1976 during the presidency of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman with the opening of Bangladesh Embassy in the Kingdom. 

President Ziaur Rahman also paid a historic visit to Saudi Arabia in 1977 and both sides have acknowledged his contribution to promoting Muslim unity.

SH