The Daily Morning Voice Online Desk: An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) of the United Kingdom paid a courtesy call on Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury here in the city on Tuesday. Rushanara Ali MP, the chair of the UK APPG on Bangladesh, was leading the visiting delegation during the meeting, said a Parliament release. UK APPG members Jonathan Neil Reynolds MP, Mohammad Yasin and Tom Hunt MP, and British High Commissioner in Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson were present. During the meeting, different issues including the ongoing development of Bangladesh, political and economic stability in Bangladesh, economic and political empowerment of women, the progress in women’s education, climate change, peaceful repatriation of the Rohingya population came up for discussion.

The Speaker said the United Kingdom recognized Bangladesh as an independent country on February 4, 1972 and then the relationship between the two countries reached a unique height in the last 50 years. Due to the tireless efforts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the wheels of the country’s economy are still moving despite the global economic crisis caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus and the Russia-Ukraine war, she said. Dr Shirin sought the support of the UK APPG on Bangladesh over the repatriation of displaced Rohingya people to Myanmar. Bangladeshi-origin Rushanara Ali MP said the growing women’s participation in economic development and education in Bangladesh is truly commendable. She assured to work together with Bangladesh on climate change and other global issues.