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China to persuade Rohingya return


Bangladeshpost
Published : 04 Jul 2019 08:44 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 06:34 AM

Beijing on Thursday assured Dhaka that it would try to persuade Myanmar for taking back its nationals from Bangladesh as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang held bilateral talks in China. During the talks, the Chinese premier agreed with the Bangladesh prime minister on resolving the protracted crisis fast. “There is no doubt that it’s a big problem for Bangladesh,” he said.

Li Keqiang, however, stressed the need for solving the crisis bilaterally and assured that China will help end the crisis, reports BSS. “Both Bangladesh and Myanmar are friends of China … we previously helped the two countries to solve the Rohingya problem and we’ll continue our efforts,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque quoted the Chinese prime minister as saying while briefing reporters after the talks. The Chinese premier said the two countries will have to find out a solution to this end through discussion.

In this connection, Keqiang mentioned that China has sent its foreign minister to Myanmar twice. “If needed, we’ll send our minister again to Myanmar so that the two countries get a solution to the crisis through discussion,” he said. Shahidul Haque said in the meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave emphasis on peace and stability in the region to achieve the cherished goals of development. “But peace and stability are being affected in the region due to the Rohingya crisis,” she said.

“With passage of time, the challenge will be bigger and speedy repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland is its only solution,” she said. The Bangladesh premier said the problem will be solved with only going back of the Rohingyas to their motherland. She highlighted in which context the Rohingyas are not going back and said Myanmar will have to solve the problem and Bangladesh has nothing to do in this regard. Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has made bilateral arrangements for Rohingya repatriation.

“We made all types of efforts in this regard, but the Rohingyas don’t want to go back as they are afraid of further atrocities,” she said. To remove the fear, the prime minister, underscored the need for playing a role by China in building a conducive environment so that the Rohingyas can go back to their homeland with safety, dignity and own identity. “They must have an access to their land property,” she said.

Responding to the statement of Bangladesh Prime Minister, Mr. Keqiang told her that Beijing was convinced that the Rohingya crisis is a big challenge for Bangladesh. He thanked the Bangladesh prime minister for her humanitarian response to the crisis of Rohingyas. The foreign secretary said bilateral talks between the two sides were held generally on five issues. Those are – broad economy and trade issue, project implementation-related issue, BCIM or connectivity issue, visa issue and the Rohingya issue, he said.

The foreign secretary said the Chinese premier termed Bangladesh as a partner of China in South Asia. “We value our relationship with Bangladesh and would like to take it to a higher level … we’ve a strategic partnership and we hope that it will be deepened and strengthened further,” Li Keqiang said. The Chinese prime minister hoped that Bangladesh will keep up its development spree and China will continue to support Bangladesh in this regard. In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said her government gives priority to peace, stability and development for the welfare of the people.

At the outset of the meeting, the Chinese prime minister congratulated Sheikh Hasina on her re-election as the prime minister for the fourth time. The meeting kicked off around 11 am at the Great Hall of People, a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and ruling Communist Party of China. Earlier, on her arrival at the Great Hall of the People at around 10:45 am, Sheikh Hasina was accorded a grand state reception.

The Chinese premier welcomed the Bangladesh prime minister when she reached the Great Hall of the People and the two premiers introduced their respective delegation members to each other. Later, Bangladesh prime minister was given a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent drawn from the three services. Accompanied by the Chinese prime minister, Sheikh Hasina took salute from a decorated dais and later inspected the guards.

National anthems of the two countries were played and gun salutes were also given on the occasion. Sheikh Hasina reached China on July 1 on a five-day bilateral official visit to attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting and hold talks with the top Chinese leaders.