Dhaka to buy luxury cars for embassies abroad

Bangladesh is set to buy luxury cars for seven Bangladeshi missions abroad to provide protocol facilities to VIPs like ministers, business leaders and senior officers, sources in the foreign ministry said in Dhaka yesterday.
The vehicles would be purchased for Bangladeshi missions in Kunming of China, Mumbai in India, Tripoli in Libya, Male in the Maldives, Mexico City in Mexico, Manchester in the United Kingdom and Copenhagen in Denmark.
However, the move has raised questions in diplomatic circles as to the need for such vehicles.
It is feared that the vehicles would only be misused, thereby increasing fuel and maintenance costs.
According to the sources, the foreign ministry will amend the rules of the Bangladeshi missions concerned to include staff car in the organisation and equipment of the organogramme to use the vehicles permanently.
Talking to newsmen, a senior foreign ministry official said the ministry has prepared a proposal in this regard and it would be placed at the next meeting of the secretarial committee on administrative improvement affairs, to be held soon.
Shahidul Haque, foreign secretary, said in the proposal that the ministry had asked the public administration ministry to create 22 posts of drivers for the Bangladeshi missions abroad.
The public administration ministry has approved the 22 posts.
“But when the proposal was sent to the finance ministry, it approved only nine posts of drivers in nine Bangladeshi missions,” the proposal added.
According to the proposal, the missions’ expenditure for VIPs during their visit abroad has increased and the missions also faced embarrassment for not providing proper services
to VIPs.
The proposal also added that security for the VIPs could not be ensured due to non-availability of own vehicle facilities at the missions concerned.
The proposal also said that the foreign ministry cannot distribute and collect diplomatic bags, distribute letters and maintain communication with the officers concerned due to shortage of vehicles at the Bangladeshi
missions.
Currently, Bangladesh has 67 missions across the globe.
The government is going to set up a deputy high commission in Chennai, capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to strengthen diplomatic relations and improve trade, people-to-people contact and cultural ties between Bangladesh and India.
After coming to power, the present government upgraded the Bangladesh council office in Tripura as assistant high commission, and created an assistant high commission in Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.
About 800,000 Bangladeshis visit India for treatment, tourism and business purposes
annually.