France for more int’l pressure on Myanmar

Visiting French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly on Monday put emphasis on mounting more international pressure on Myanmar to take back its Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister’s Office here this morning, the French minister also said her country will continue to support to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue.

“The international community should create more pressure on Myanmar for repatriation of its citizens from Bangladesh,” PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying while briefing reporters after the meeting.

The press secretary said that the French minister highly appreciated Bangladesh for handling the Rohingya crisis efficiently. “Our support to Bangladesh on the issue will continue,” the press secretary quoted her as saying.

Noting that there are similarities on many issues with Bangladesh, Florence Parly said both the countries are working together in many sectors across the globe, especially in the peacekeeping missions.

She expressed her country’s keen interest to impart training to the students of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University.

In reply, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the existing cooperation between Bangladesh and France in military sector and stressed the need for boosting cooperation in the field.

“We’ll be happy to see more cooperation with France in this sector,” she added.

Sheikh Hasina said her government has given highest priority to the training in defense sector.

Talking about Bangabandhu Satellite-1 which was developed by French company Thales Alenia Space, the French minister informed Sheikh Hasina that it was working as expected.

In reply, the premier said as the lifetime of the satellite is 15 years, the government would go for launching Bangabandhu Satellite-II. _BSS

Dhaka/AKA