Deal driven by demand, no hidden agenda

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said the government had signed a deal to purchase 11 Boeing aircraft based on passenger demand and the national carrier’s plans for future international operations, stressing that there was no hidden agenda behind the deal.

“We need to expand our fleet of national carrier to become an aviation hub.

There is no hidden agenda. We are doing it driven by aviation needs,” he said at the Foreign Ministry on Monday while responding to questions at a press briefing at the Foreign Ministry on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s participation in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Secretary (Intergovernmental Organizations) M Forhadul Islam and Additional Secretary (Public Diplomacy and Other Priority Matters) AKM Shahidul Karim were also present on the occasion.

Asked whether there were any complications or pressure behind the agreement with Boeing, the state minister said Bangladesh was making its decision based on its own requirements when assessing the future of Biman.

The Boeing issue came up after a journalist asked about the agreement signed during the prime minister’s New York visit and noted that the US ambassador had congratulated Bangladesh on the deal.

“During the deal four ministers of Trump administration was present. Everything is open here. If we want to make an aviation hub we need mixed fleet. We have done it on the basis of passenger needs,” he said.

In reply to another question of reopening Biman’s Dhaka-New York flight, the State Minister said that a technical assessment was under way, particularly in relation to health and safety requirements.

“Over the last 15 years, the previous government was not interested in it. We’ve started discussing reassessment process of health and safety requirements.”

Kobir said the assessment process needed to be completed before the next steps could be taken.

About Prime Minister’s visit to New York, he said, “It was a historic visit. The prime minister delivered an address at the General Assembly, spoke at seven high-level meetings, held bilateral meetings with 11 countries and met senior officials of 10 international organisations.”

In reply to a question, he rejected the speculation that the prime minister’s visit had been shortened.

The state minister said the prime minister’s meetings represented significant international engagements and that the visit had generated high visibility for Bangladesh.

The state minister also rejected criticism from a senior opposition leader who claimed that the prime minister’s UN General Assembly speech had focused mainly on the ruling party and glorified the party rather than presenting Bangladesh’s national interests.

Kobir said he was “surprised” by the criticism and questioned whether issues such as climate change, Rohingya, peace, Palestine as well as domestic issues could be described as belonging to any particular political party.

“Are these BNP’s issues?” Kobir asked, arguing that the speech addressed a broad range of domestic, national and international matters.

He said the prime minister had used the UN platform to address the world and that the speech had therefore covered a wide range of issues of interest to Bangladesh and the international community.

He said that the prime minister’s address in Bengali covered Bangladesh’s democratic transition, the government’s Recovery, Restoration and Reconstruction strategy, known as the Three-R, as well as the empowerment of women and young people, social protection, education, technology and innovation.

Highlighting different engagement of Tarique Rahman, he said, the prime minister participated in a high-level meeting titled “Climate Action and the Just Transition”, organised at the initiative of the UN secretary-general, where he presented Bangladesh’s position on climate change.

On the same day, he attended a high-level meeting jointly organised by Bangladesh and The Gambia on the Rohingya crisis.

At the meeting, he called for a clear roadmap for the rapid and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas, an end to violence in Myanmar, adequate humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas sheltering in Bangladesh, and justice and accountability for crimes against the Rohingya people.

During the General Assembly, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held bilateral meetings with the presidents of Türkiye and Iran, the vice-president of the Maldives, and the prime ministers of Bhutan, Pakistan, Thailand, Croatia and Haiti, as well as the Crown Prince of Kuwait.

The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates deputy prime ministers and foreign ministers also paid courtesy calls on the prime minister.

He also met the UN secretary-general, president of the World Bank Group, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for Myanmar, founder of the International Peace Institute, chief executive of the Gates Foundation, chief executive of Boeing Global and Wall Street investors.

Kobir said these meetings had opened new opportunities for relations and cooperation with the countries and organisations concerned.

The state minister described the UN visit as successful, saying it had provided an opportunity to present the new government’s commitments and expectations to the international community and to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation.