Canada is a longstanding partner in Bangladesh’s development and plays a greater role in global peace and prosperity. Bangladesh also has cooperation with the Caribbean Island nations in different fields. Dr Khalilur Rahman, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Nicaragua, shares his insights on the status of bilateral relations, the Rohingya crisis, and scopes in trade and investment, tourism, education, and counterterrorism, for our readers in an interview with Dhaka Tribune’s Probir Kumar Sarker. Dr Khalilur, who is also the Permanent Representative to the UN International Civil Aviation Organization, previously served in various capacities in the Foreign Ministry as well as in the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and the Bangladesh Permanent Mission in Geneva.
Dr Khalilur Rahman: Canada was not only one of the first countries to recognise independent Bangladesh, the Canadian government and people supported our glorious War of Independence in 1971. Since diplomatic relations were established on February 14, 1972, Canada has been supporting Bangladesh in many areas. The bilateral relations between the two countries received momentum following the visit of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to Canada in 1973 in connection with the Commonwealth Summit, and a special bond of friendship blossomed between him and the then Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre E Trudeau, who incidentally is the father of the current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
This bond of friendship and personal rapport has transcended to their able daughter and son, the current Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Canada. This was further strengthened when the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Canada in 2016 to attend the Fifth Global Fund Replenishment Conference and in 2018, to attend the “Leaders Outreach Session” of the G-7 Summit at the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The personal rapport and the common understanding between the two leaders on many global issues are two of the strengths of the existing friendly relations between the two countries.