Bangladesh has proposed to Canada to devise an effective mechanism to move forward with the deportation of Nur Chowdhury, the self-confessed and convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members in 1975.
Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali made the proposal at a bilateral meeting held with his Canadian counterpart Stephane Dion in Ottawa on Tuesday.
In response, the Canadian foreign minister said they will take up the matter with relevant departments of the Canadian government and revert.
Both the ministers discussed in details the possible deportation of Chowdhury, said the foreign ministry in Dhaka yesterday.
Living in Canada since 1996, Chowdhury has long been evading his death sentence. As a follow-up to the meeting held between the two prime ministers in Montreal last month, both the foreign ministers discussed the question of bringing Chowdhury to justice.
Among other issues, both the ministers discussed the conclusion of air services agreement (ASA) with Bangladesh’s latest proposal of fifth freedom, foreign investment promotion and protection agreement (FIPA) and memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on the foreign office consultations, education, culture and visa waiver on diplomatic and official passports between the two countries.
Except FIPA, all other agreements and MoUs are pending with the Canadian side for their expert level reviews.
The Canadian side informed that they are working on the proposed agreement and MoUs and will soon reflect their views on those to Bangladesh
government.
Both the foreign ministers also discussed terrorism and violent extremism, including bilateral cooperation on the security and counter-terrorism.
Foreign Minister Ali said the present government maintains zero tolerance towards all forms of extremism and terrorism, including their financing - both nationally and internationally.
The Canadian foreign minister deeply appreciated Bangladesh government’s tireless efforts to uproot all form terrorism from its soil.
He also assured all possible support under the rule of law and human rights to stand beside Bangladesh in this endeavour.
Both the ministers expressed satisfaction over the highly encouraging growth of bilateral trade between the two countries, which is presently $2.4bn. They discussed the trade diversification and new areas of co-operation, export of pharmaceutical products to Canada and exchange of business delegation between the two countries.
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