Staff Correspondent: Dhaka, July-15,

Bangladesh has expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for standing by the people of the country at an extremely difficult time by sending vaccine doses as gifts and also opening the commercial supply line.

Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen reiterated his request to initiate vaccine coproduction in Bangladesh with partnership from Bangladeshi and Chinese stakeholders.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister discussed the issues with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during their meeting on the sidelines of the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity - Challenges and opportunities” in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Thursday.

The Chinese Foreign Minister assured Dr. Momen of the Chinese government’s support on this issue.

Dr. Momen thanked the Chinese government for initiating the six-party COVID consultation.

Both the foreign ministers agreed to continue to work further towards the repatriation of the Rohingyas.

They also underscored the need to resume the tripartite dialogue.

Both sides reciprocated their appreciation to each other for exchanging video messages by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Hasina on the occasions of the joint program of the 100th anniversary of the Father of the Nation and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China respectively.

During his separate meeting with the Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Dr. Momen proposed to initiate a joint working commission to boost bilateral trade and investment.

Foreign Minister Muhyiddin expressed his country’s appreciation to Bangladesh for graciously hosting the persecuted Rohingya people and pledged to continue support to Bangladesh in its multidimensional efforts to repatriate the displaced Rohingyas.

At the invitation of his Uzbek counterpart, Dr. Momen is leading a Bangladesh delegation comprising of Bangladesh ambassador to Uzbekistan and senior officials from Dhaka to the International Conference.

Dr. Momen will hold a meeting with the President of Uzbekistan during his stay there.

He is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev is hosting the two-day global forum to strengthen regional connectivity in the context of the new open foreign policy strategy of Tashkent.

The idea is aimed at further deepening economic cooperation in Central Asia, with access to South Asia, which has historically been closely linked to this region in economic, social, cultural, and civilizational dimensions.