Riyad to always stay beside Dhaka on Rohingya issue

Visiting Chief of General Staff (CGS) of Saudi Armed Forces General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al- Ruwaili highly appreciated the role of Bangladesh in Rohingya issue and said Riyad will always stay beside Dhaka on this issue.

The Saudi chief of general staff said this when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganabhaban residence here this afternoon.

After the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.

Pointing out the excellent cooperation between Saudi and Bangladesh Armed Forces, General Fayyadh said the cooperation is being enhanced day by day.

The Saudi chief of general staff highly appreciated the training provided by the National Defence College (NDC) in Bangladesh.

“The quality of training of the NDC is very high and we want to continue to participate in the training,” he said.

General Fayyadh explained the Saudi position on Yemen issue and said: “We don’t want to go for aggression, we want peace.”

The Saudi chief of general staff also praised Bangladesh’s steps to combat terrorism.

Referring to the conflicts among the Muslim Ummah, the prime minister said fraternity conflicts should be solved through discussion and negotiation.

“Due to conflicts, the benefit goes to the arms sellers,” she said. In this context, the prime minister said Bangladesh got provocation on the Rohingya issue. “But we want to resolve the issue through negotiation,” she said.

Mentioning the cooperation between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, she hoped that the cooperation will be strengthened further.

Sheikh Hasina said Saudi Arabia has a special place in the hearts of the people of Bangladesh.

The prime minister said the cooperation between Bangladesh Armed Forces and Saudi Armed Forces have been multidimensional including training support and material support and specially support rendered for the development of various training institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces.

About terrorism, Sheikh Hasina said her government is creating awareness to combat the menace of terrorism engaging the people of all sections of society.

General Fayyadh expressed his country’s desire to join the birth centenary celebration programme of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman, Principle Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman and the Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh were present on the occasion._BSS.
 

Dhaka/Nasim