The third strategic dialogue between the United Kingdom and Bangladesh is set to start on Wednesday (Apr 24).
The two-day talks will address a series of bilateral ties between the two countries, including political, economical and security, regional and international issues, amongst other things.
The atrocious attack on Sri Lanka and subsequent security matters will be part of the talks and Dhaka will solicit London’s help to speed up the repatriation of Rohingyas.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Permanent Under Secretary of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Sir Simon McDonald will lead the strategic talks.
The foreign secretary will lead a delegation comprising of representatives from the foreign ministry, commerce ministry, Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, defence ministry, Economic Relations Division, Security Services Division, Special Branch of Bangladesh Police, and civil aviation and tourism ministry.
A foreign ministry media statement said that a 15-20 member delegation from the UK, comprising of the representatives from Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of International Development, Department of Trade, UK Home Office/ UK Border Agency, Department of Transport, and Ministry of Defence, will take part in the discussion.
“This is the third dialogue between the two states in three years,” Bangladeshi envoy to UK Saida Muna Tasneem told Bangla Tribune.
“Our foreign secretary and UK’s undersecretary have been taking part in the talks from the very beginning,” she added.
She was hopeful that the upcoming talks would be a fruitful one.
Political ties
The meeting will discuss the various aspects of the political ties between the two countries.
“We discussed the internal political situation of the countries last year,” said a foreign ministry official.
The official, wishing to remain anonymous, added that they would do the same this year.
“Last year UK issued 21,000 visas [to Bangladeshis]. Almost 70 percent of the visa applications were approved,” he added.
He said that the two countries have a general agreement about the repatriation of Bangladeshi’s living illegally in the UK.
The UK has accepted Dhaka’s proposal of sending illegal Bangladeshis back once the legal procedures are over.
He said that given UK’s 4 billion pound curry industry Dhaka will also try to convince London to be co-operative in terms of visas for chefs interested to work there.
Trade
The UK is the second largest investor in Bangladesh and the two-way annual trade between the countries stand at nearly $5 billion.
Another official said that once Bangladesh graduates to a middle-income country, it would have to resort to another way for tax-free trade.
“We want the benefits to be available then and we’ll raise the issue during the dialogue,” he said.
He added that UK has assured of continuing the tax waiver and they will discuss opening branches of UK universities in Dhaka.