In the backdrop of legal battles against Myanmar in the international courts, Bangladesh is trying to gain momentum on putting more pressure on the neighbouring country to resolve Rohingya crisis.
A tripartite committee comprised of Bangladesh, China and Myanmar has already been formed for the repatriation and the government wants Russia to join the wagon.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had two separate meetings with Russian and Chinese ambassadors Wednesday and discussed about specific supports from them.
“We need to bring the P5 (US, China, Russia, UK and France) and other big countries and blocs including Asean, EU, India and Japan onboard to have a peaceful solution,” said an official of the foreign ministry.
For the last two years, we have relentlessly engaged with the countries and continue to do so till it happens, he added.
Russian engagement
The foreign minister and Russian envoy Alexander I Ignatov discussed about some specific proposals to help the Rohingyas to go back to their own country.
“We have some specific proposals and discussed it with the Russian envoy,” said another official.
Momen visited Russia and had a fruitful meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in April when the Russian foreign minister welcomed the idea of involving ASEAN in the repatriation process, he said.
“The foreign minister has sent a letter to Lavrov recently seeking his support and in reply Moscow showed their interest in closely engaging in the issue,” he added.
“What we are trying to do is to create a global consensus to help the Rohingyas and for their repatriation,” the official said.
Chinese engagement
Chinese ambassador Li Jiming briefed the minister about the initiative taken by his country to resolve the crisis after a meeting among foreign ministers of Bangladesh, China and Myanmar held in New York in September.
“There is a Chinese initiative to form a tripartite committee and the first meeting of the body was held in October,” said another official.
Chinese embassy here has already sensitized its headquarters and its mission in Myanmar to engage with them, he added.
“We will also engage with other countries to put more pressure on Maynmar,” the official said.