Embassy celebrates Bangladesh National Day, 50 years of ties
KUWAIT: Celebrating the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh along with the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh-Kuwait relations, the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait hosted a reception program at the Crowne Plaza on Tuesday. The Independence of Bangladesh was achieved through a long political struggle for 23 years and ended with the country’s glorious victory on December 16, 1971 - a remarkable milestone that changed the destiny of the nation forever. In his speech, Ambassador of Bangladesh Maj Gen Md Ashikuzzaman recalled with great reverence the greatest Bengali of all time, attributing to him the nation’s cherished freedom. “At this moment, I remember with profound respect the architect of our independent Bangladesh, Father of our Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose firm and far-sighted leadership, we got an independent state,” expressed the Ambassador, reflecting on the profound significance of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy.
Following this historic milestone, Kuwait emerged as the first Gulf nation to recognize Bangladesh immediately after its declaration of independence, a gesture for which the ambassador expressed deep gratitude. It was the beginning of what the ambassador liked to refer to as “deep and historic ties of friendship,” between the two nations - a bond that has endured through the years. After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1974, Bangladesh and Kuwait have enjoyed excellent bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, which further strengthened their relationship.
This collaboration spans political, economic, trade, investment, manpower, agriculture, education, tourism, and defense sectors. Furthermore, Ashikuzzaman underscored the special military cooperation between Bangladesh and Kuwait, which commenced following the Liberation of Kuwait in 1991 and continues to this day. Presently, he said that approximately 5,000 Bangladesh Armed Forces Personnel are deployed alongside the Kuwait Armed Forces.
He noted that both nations have vowed to identify new areas of mutual cooperation for their mutual benefit. These areas include food security, health security, climate change, renewable energy, green technology, ICT, and digitalization. Being a developing country, presently, Ashikuzzaman noted that Bangladesh is the second largest economy in South Asia. In continuation of this, comes Vision 2041 “Smart Bangladesh,” a prosperous plan that has been announced to turn Bangladesh into a developed and knowledge-based prosperous country.
To materialize this vision, among many efforts, government of Bangladesh has established 100 Special Economic Zones to attract the potential investors, said Ashikuzzaman. Speaking of Bangladesh foreign policy “Friendship to all, malice towards none,” the ambassador highlighted Bangladesh efforts in multiple humanitarian aspects such as sheltering millions of Rohingyas, displaced Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh.
The ambassador called upon the United Nations and the international community, to take early and effective measures for permanent solution to this problem as he strongly condemned the killing of innocent civilians, including women and children, and demanded an immediate halt to Zionist brutalities in Palestine. He added that Bangladesh reiterated its firm belief in a two-state solution as the sole path to achieve lasting peace in the region.