Hasina, Merkel summit likely in mid-February
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to hold talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel in the middle of next month in Germany.
The meeting is likely to be held in Munich as the two leaders will be in the city to attend the Munich Security Conference to be held from February 15 to 17, diplomatic sources said.
They are expected to discuss bilateral issues, including increasing trade and development cooperation, recent trend on global migration and Rohingya crisis, they said.
‘Rohingya crisis has already emerged as a security issue and we would certainly raise the matter at all levels,’ a diplomat said.
This will be Hasina’s first visit abroad after the December 30 parliamentary elections.
Overall current annual trade volume between the two countries is over six billion Euro, with the value of exports from Bangladesh over five billion Euro and German export to Bangladesh over one billion Euro.
Several hundred participants, including Qatar emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Egypt president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Afghanistan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Austria chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Norway prime minister Ema Solberg, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Russia foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, heads of the states and the governments and foreign and defence ministers of different countries are scheduled to join the security conference.
Sheikh Hasina is expected to hold meetings with some of the ministers and international dignitaries on the sidelines of the conference.
Sheikh Hasina is also set to pay official visit to the UAE after visiting Germany.
Since its foundation in 1963, the MSC has been an independent forum dedicated to build trust and to contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts by sustaining a continuous, curated and informal dialogue within the international security community.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net