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Bangladesh votes against Russia in UNGA: Shahriar hopes foreign diplomats will not misuse gesture
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka | Published: 13:15, Oct 13,2022 | Updated: 00:45, Oct 14,2022https://www.newagebd.net/article/183544/bangladesh-votes-against-russia-in-unga
Bangladesh has voted in favour of the UN resolution titled ‘Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Defending the Principles of the UN Charter’ at the UN General Assembly’s 11th Emergency Special Session on Ukraine Crisis in New York.
‘Bangladesh along with 142 other countries voted in favour of the resolution,’ said state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam at a media briefing at the foreign ministry in Dhaka on Thursday.
The UNGA adopted the resolution on Wednesday that condemns Russia’s ‘illegal so-called referendums’ in regions within Ukraine's internationally-recognised borders, and demands it reverses its annexation declaration.
The state minister at the briefing said that Bangladesh remained very hospitable to the diplomats and hoped that the foreign diplomats would not misuse that gesture. ‘If they do, we need to think otherwise,’ he said, reports UNB.
He referred to James F Moriarty, the then-US ambassador, who sent the confidential cable on November 3, 2008 to Washington and WikiLeaks published it later portraying Tarique Rahman as a symbol of ‘kleptocratic government and violent politics’ in Bangladesh and the US embassy in Dhaka even recommended blocking his entry into the United States.
He said that the government could not take responsibility if any political party did not take part in the upcoming elections but expects that the polls would be held in a ‘free and fair’ manner.
‘We said it clearly that the elections will be free and fair. But we have no capacity as such to make sure that all political parties will join the elections,’ he told reporters at the briefing, noting that this is what he conveyed to US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman during his recent meeting in the USA, adds UNB.
Shahriar Alam said that Bangladesh permanent representative to the UN M Abdul Muhith gave the explanation of Bangladesh’s position regarding the vote at the UNGA’s special session.
‘We did so because we strongly believe that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter regarding respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of all disputes must be complied universally for everyone, everywhere under all circumstances, without any exception,’ a foreign ministry statement said referring to Bangladesh's explanation that was made at the UN.
Bangladesh also believed that sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country within its internationally recognised borders should be respected, said the statement.
‘In this connection, we specially underscore the need to take similar uniform stand by the international community against the annexations of Palestinian and other Arab lands by Israel,’ it read.
Bangladesh remained deeply concerned by the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine and its global socio-economic implications.
As a firm believer of multilateralism, Bangladesh will continue to stand with the United Nations and the office of the secretary general and supporting them in every way it can, it added.
Dhaka observed that in order to gain the trust and confidence of the people at all levels, the United Nations and the office of the secretary general must lead from the front and work to fulfil the expectations of all.
A total of 143 member states voted in favour of the resolution, five voted against and 35 abstained.
The countries who voted against were Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria while India and China were among those who abstained.