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MALTA, Nov 26 (UNB): Bangladesh delegation led by Foreign Minister Morshed Khan at the Commonwealth foreign ministers' meeting reiterated Dhaka's position opposing terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and called for addressing the root causes of terrorism.
The delegation also emphasised the need for dialogue and understanding among Commonwealth countries and for improving the quality of life to minimise the socio-economic disparities to combat terrorism.
The Bangladesh delegation also made a number of interventions on different issues including information and communication technology (ICT), trade, natural disaster and terrorism at the two-day foreign ministers' meeting, which concluded here Thursday.
Khan is leading Bangladesh to the Commonwealth summit (CHOGM) that began Friday.
Other members of the Bangladesh delegation include Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Sabihuddin Ahmed and senior foreign ministry officials.
The Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, in the first session of the meeting, reviewed the recent global developments and discussed political, economic and social issues.
On ICT and the CHOGM theme of Networking the Commonwealth for Development, Khan said that for meaningful networking, ICT had to be accessible to all.
He said access to ICT in the developing and the least developed countries (LDCs) remained urban based while a vast majority of the Commonwealth population is yet to have access to ICT facilities.
The foreign minister urged the Commonwealth members to undertake more programmes to make ICT accessible to all.
On the sidelines of the pre-CHOGM ministerial meeting, Khan held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Singapore, New Zealand, the Maldives and Pakistan.
Matters of mutual interest and cooperation relating to bilateral relations between Bangladesh and these countries were discussed in the meetings in a very frank and cordial atmosphere.
Both the Maldives and Pakistan expressed their appreciation for the success of the recently held 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka.
The foreign minister stressed the need for expeditious follow-up of the summit decisions to make SAARC more meaningful to the peoples of South Asia.
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