Thaindian News

Dhaka, Dec 31 (IANS) Ahead of summit level talks with India next month, Bangladesh has sought to reach out to its neighbours by stressing on the importance of a timetable to resolve its maritime issues with India and Myanmar and on its relations with China.
Dhaka also indicated a visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Beijing next year, New Age newspaper reported Thursday.

Hasina told a Chinese minister, who said Beijing was “eagerly awaiting” her trip by the middle of 2010, that she would be visiting “at a convenient date”.

Dhaka also wants to fast-forward a three-nation road that would connect Dhaka to Kunmin in China via Myanmar to further trilateral trade and communication, New Age newspaper said.

Receiving Myanmarese deputy minister for foreign affairs Maung Myint, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni added: “It is important for Bangladesh to have access to the natural resource in the Bay of Bengal for which delimitation of maritime boundary between the neighbouring countries is essential.”

Dhaka and New Delhi have submitted their respective cases before a UN body to determine the maritime boundaries and end occasional stand-offs on the high seas where the three littoral nations explore for hydrocarbons.

Moni asked Myanmar to take back at the earliest all its nationals - the Rohingya refugees - who entered Bangladesh illegally.

The Daily Star said Yangon had agreed to take back 9,000 such people who are supposed to have fled to the Arakan hills after being driven out by the Myanmarese military.

Hasina and Moni separately received Chinese assistant minister for foreign affairs Hu Zhengyue.

Hasina said Bangladesh attached importance to its relations with China and emphasised increasing people-to-people and party-to-party contacts between the two countries, apart from bilateral ties at government level.

Hu Zhengyue was visiting Dhaka as China has taken a diplomatic move to make other countries, including Bangladesh, understand its stance at the recent Copenhagen climate summit.

He said strengthening relations and maintaining regular cooperation among the defence forces in addition to holding regular exercises would be helpful to increase skills of the security forces of the two countries.