UNB :
Bangladesh has invited Russia to invest in Ishwardi Airport to make it functional.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam discussed the issue when newly appointed Ambassador of Russia to Bangladesh Alexander Vikentyevich Mantytskiy met with him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday.
Bangladesh is firmly committed to taking bilateral relations with Russia to a higher level, the state minister said.
Also, he recalled the contributions of Russia during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
The Russian ambassador said his country wants to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with Bangladesh.
He also shared his country’s commitment to expanding relations between the two countries.
The state minister mentioned that Bangladesh and Russia share the same view in various regional and international forums including in the UN to ensure global peace and security.
During the Second World War, the British government set up the Ishwardi Airport and in 1962 PIA operated the first passenger flight, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
After the independence of Bangladesh, Biman Bangladesh Airlines ran regular flights to and from Dhaka till 1989.
In 2013 United airways resumed their flights to Dhaka, but flights to the airport were suspended in 2014, CAAB says.
