Bangladesh's interest lies in peaceful coexistence with Myanmar: Momen

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said various unintended incidents including mortar blasts and violation of airspace have occurred inside Bangladesh due to the ongoing conflict inside Myanmar between its army and the insurgent Arakan Army.

Momen said this while replying to a question from ruling Awami League MP Momtaz Begum in the parliament.

However, he said that Bangladesh has so far shown patience in dealing with these provocative activities.

The foreign minister said that as a neighbouring country, Bangladesh is interested in peaceful coexistence with Myanmar.

"For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to resolve the ongoing problems through diplomatic initiatives in view of the behaviour of Myanmar," he said.

He also said that as part of the diplomatic initiative, Bangladesh has strongly protested these incidents by summoning the Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka four times, and organizing a briefing for ambassadors of ASEAN countries in Dhaka.

He mentioned that the Chinese Ambassador was separately briefed and the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon has informed the Myanmar government about Bangladesh's deep concern over the prevailing border situation.

In response to a question from Jatiya Party's Rustom Ali Farazi, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said Bangladesh is not a drug producing country but is under the grip of drug problem due to geographical reasons.

"Illegal drugs enter our country from neighbouring countries," he said.

He also said after preparing the list of godfathers and syndicates involved in drug business, actions have been taken against them.

The Home Minister said that in 2021, 93,190 cases were filed and 1. 22 lakh illegal drug dealers were arrested and brought under the law.

Meanwhile in 2022, the minister said that till August, 66,554 cases have been filed and 83,123 illegal drug dealers have been arrested and brought under the law.