Shahriar Alam holds bilateral meeting with Mexican deputy foreign minister

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam attended the 200-year Celebration of Mexican independence and held a bilateral meeting with Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister.

Shahriar Alam is now visiting Mexico with a 7-member Bangladesh delegation and participated in the celebration of the 200th year anniversary of Mexican independence this evening at the invitation from the Mexican President.

The celebration programme, also attended by a number of high dignitaries from different countries all over the world, was presided over by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Bangladesh State Minister arrived in Mexico City on 25 September and was received by Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Mexico Abida Islam.

Apart from the official delegation led by State Minister Shahriar Alam, a 39-member military contingent from Bangladesh performed at the celebratory parade in Mexico City on 16 September 2021, and a 14-member cultural troupe is also visiting the country to showcase Bangladesh’s rich cultural heritage there.

Mexican President, during his speech in the celebration programme, expressed his sincere gratitude to Bangladesh for its active participation in the celebration of 200 years of Mexican independence.

At the sideline of the celebration programme, Bangladesh’s State Minister had a brief meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is also visiting Mexico to attend the celebration, and discussed issues of mutual interest. State Minister Shahriar Alam also met with Ministers from Serbia, The Netherland, France and Greece during the celebration event.

In the morning today, the State Minister Md. Shahriar Alam MP held a bilateral meeting with Ambassador Carmen Moreno Toscano, Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister, at the Mexican Foreign Office (SRE).

This has been indeed the first bilateral meeting between two sides since his maiden visit to Mexico in 2015, during which an MoU on regular bilateral consultation was signed.

It was also the first bilateral engagement between these two friendly nations.

During the meeting, the Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister thanked Bangladesh’s State Minister for accepting the invitation and attending the celebration ceremony.

While thanking the Government of Bangladesh for sending the military contingent as well as the cultural troupe, she conveyed that a small military contingent from Mexico would participate in the parade of the closing ceremony of the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Bangladesh’s Independence and the 100th Birth Anniversary of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister praised Bangladesh for its extraordinary accomplishments in women empowerment, and in response State Minister Shahriar Alam briefed her on the extraordinary successes Bangladesh has achieved in recent years not only in women empowerment but also in attaining MDGs and SDGs.

Bangladesh State Minister also emphasized the importance of regular holding of foreign office consultations (FOC) between two governments as per the MoU signed between two governments six years ago, underscoring that Bangladesh remains flexible with the modalities of holding such consultation in near future.

He also stressed the early conclusion of the MoU between two countries for visa exemption of diplomatic and official passports, and also proposed for engagement between the diplomatic training academies of both the countries including learning of Spanish language.

In addition, the state minister thanked Mexico for its strong support to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and expressed satisfaction at support and cooperation extended by Mexico at the multilateral arena.

State Minister Shahriar Alam informed the Mexican Minister that a small business delegation is accompanying him who intends to connect with their counterparts in this country. In this connection, he opined that two countries may initiate and conclude MoUs in different areas, including in the area of double taxation.

The Mexican Deputy Minister proposed that FoC can be initiated virtually at the level of Director General and also expressed her government’s willingness to conclude the almost finalized MoU of mutual administrative assistance in customs matters. She also underlined the enhancement of cultural cooperation by concluding an MoU.

She agreed to explore the possibilities of language training and expressed interest to conclude an MoU with the two diplomatic training institutes including the exchange of diplomats. Two Ministers also had discussed their respective country’s COVID-19 situation and management.

State Minister Shahriar Alam is scheduled to meet Mexican Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade as well as the business community tomorrow including the local press as well. He is also expected to interact with the university students at an event titled ‘Meeting the Young Minds’ in a local university. (Press Release)