Business Desk :
Bangladesh on Tuesday urged both its people and France to show restraint in dealing with religious sentiment and to not link religion with trade.
Referring to the recent act of violence in France over the religious issue, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen noted that Bangladesh does not support any kind of religious violence.
“At the same time, we feel that in the name of freedom of speech none should hurt the religious sentiment of others'” Mr Masud said while briefing the members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB).
In regards to the call for banning Bangladeshi products by some French lawmakers, the foreign secretary said that this call might be given as a political rhetoric to appease their respective constituencies.
When his attention was drawn that a section of religious group in Bangladesh also called for banning French products, he noted that trade should not be linked to religion.
Mr Masud observed that change of commands in the White House would not affect the US-Bangladesh ties.
The policy of the State Department in regards to Bangladesh does not depend on any particular person, he noted.
But Bangladesh will continue to urge the USA to provide the trade facilities that it enjoyed earlier.
On Rohingya issues, he said the government is planning to relocate over 300 Rohingya families to Bhasanchar in this month.
He also hoped that a new diplomatic move will be initiated to start repatriation after the national elections of Myanmar in this month.
Responding to a query, he said the ministry usually takes steps as per the law when it gets reports of violence or abuse against any female Bangladeshi worker in the Middle East.
But he also felt that guardians should remain cautious about the authenticity of the recruiting agencies so that their daughters could avoid cheating.
Replying to another query, he said that Bangladesh would be the part of the US-led Indo Pacific Strategy if it would provide the opportunity of economic development.
He also pointed out that Bangladesh was not biased to either China or India.
We have good ties with both the countries, he added.
Deportation of workers, bringing back the Bangladeshis stuck abroad and ensuring proper scrutiny at the airport were the major challenges during the Covid, which according to him, was handled satisfactorily.
