By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A. Chowdhury is in Moscow in what is being billed as the first high-level visit from Dhaka since the Russian Federation emerged in 1991.
Chowdhury left for Moscow Saturday on a three-day visit “as Dhaka is looking to resuscitate Dhaka-Moscow relations”, The Daily Star newspaper said Sunday.
A foreign ministry handout said the Dhaka-Moscow relationship has “remained on the backburner” and the visit aimed to “reinvigorate” the relations.
“Today Russia is fast evolving as a power in the political and economic arena and is once again poised to play a key role,” it said.
The erstwhile Soviet Union had played a key role in Bangladesh’s independence, both directly and as an ally that signed the India-Soviet Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1971.
It had spent much time and effort in clearing Bangladeshi ports and harbours of mines and was an important aid-giver and trade partner in the early years of independence.
That was also the period when Moscow was accused of wanting to exercise ‘hegemony’ along with India.
Moscow and successive regimes in Dhaka maintained a low profile after 1975.
“I am looking forward to my Russian visit which I hope will open many doors for us. It promises to be a ground-breaking one,” Chowdhury said before his departure.
He is visiting on an invitation from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The two had been Permanent Representatives to the UN at the same time.
“Russia can be a vast market for our manufacturers. It is a very important source of food grains, fertiliser and energy.
“The intellectual and cultural connections between our two peoples go back centuries and there is a great possibility of converting these linkages to mutual economic and political benefits,” Chowdhury said.