KARACHI: A country can adopt any model having several matrixes in order to address its political and economic issues and Bangladesh will never shy away from sharing its best experiences with Pakistan, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mohammad Mijarul Quayes said on Sunday.
He made these comments while addressing a luncheon meeting organised in his honour at a hotel. “Look for models that can resolve your problems,” he said. To a query, he said that there were many facets to the Bangladesh model in terms of democracy and a caretaker government, and if a country had to sacrifice its best for the common good, it should go ahead with it.
He said the whole idea of independence was to have better political structures with representative governments, which were not being dictated, but followed the supremacy of law. Quayes said that it was fortunate that all countries in South Asia had democratic governments and the platform of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should be used to protect democracy in the region.
“People in the region want to collectively act to achieve democracy as their core value, and they are striving for it,” he said. Quayes said that there were many commonalities between Pakistan and Bangladesh and “we need to explore new relations”.
Visa issues: “We will talk about tariffs, visa issues and how to build substantial relations without bureaucratic hassles between the two countries,” he said. Quayes said that global issues, climate change and many other matters could not be resolved unilaterally, thus “we need to bridge gaps and not only participate in but also celebrate the common goals of the countries in the region”. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Bangladesh Friendship Forum Chairman Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui said that Bangladesh had historical ties with Pakistan and this was evident from the fact that the All India Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1906. “After its creation, Bangladesh had played a very important role in world politics, and it has made the second-biggest contribution to the UN’s peacekeeping missions,” he said.
Siddiqui stated that Bangladesh had supported Pakistan in the latter’s hour of need and trade between the two the countries would increase with time.
In his short speech, renowned columnist Ikram Sehgal said that there should be no tariffs or visa issues between the two countries.
