Canada yesterday appreciated present government for holding the recent city corporation polls in Dhaka and Chittagong saying that it “brought back normalcy in public life which was jeopardized by the violence of BNP- Jamaat alliance”.
The appreciation came when Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit-Pierre Laramee met Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali at the latter’s office here yesterday morning, a foreign ministry release said.
“Despite some reported disturbances during the elections, these elections eventually deescalated the violence,” the envoy said. Describing his personal experience, he said that he found the polling agents of the BNP-backed candidates in various polling centres of Mirpur area on the election day even after the BNP withdrew from the elections.
During the meeting, the Canadian High Commissioner handed over a letter of Canadian Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson to his Bangladesh counterpart.
The Canadian Foreign Minister in his letter mentioned that Canada and Bangladesh have enjoyed warm diplomatic relations and look forward for building on these ties through continued development cooperation, increased trade and investment, and strengthened people to people links.
He recalled that Canada was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh and maintains a strong interest in Bangladesh’s continued democratic, economic and social development.
He thanked Bangladesh Foreign Minister for inviting him to visit Bangladesh and said that he would examine his calendar in this regard.
In response, Mahmood Ali referred to the growing relationships with Canada in almost all sectors, the role of Bangladeshi diaspora in Canadian society and thanked the Canadian government in strengthening of its partnership for development with Bangladesh.
