Staff Reporter :
Comments by any ambassador on any decision of Bangladesh are irrelevant, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said today in reaction to Palestinian Ambassador in Dhaka Yousef SY Ramadan’s remarks expressing frustration over removing the words “except Israel” from Bangladeshi passports.
“Who said what on our decision is totally irrelevant to me. We maintain our foreign policy. We are a sovereign country. We will decide what to do,” he told reporters after a meeting with UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday.
He made the comment referring to Palestinian ambassador’s remarks yesterday that he is frustrated over Bangladesh government’s decision to delete the words “except Israel” in the new booklets of e-passports.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry on Sunday said the “removal of the observation has been done to maintain international standard of Bangladeshi e-passports and does not imply any change of Bangladesh’s foreign policy towards the Middle East. The ban on travel of Bangladeshi passport holders to Israel remains unchanged.”
It said Bangladesh has not deviated from its position on Israel and Bangladesh remains firm on its long-standing position in this regard.
