Dipu Moni's 11 visits in four months  Dr. Dipu Moni, Foreign Minister of 4-month old Mahajote Government, has so far visited seven countries since new govt came to power. She is scheduled to visit four more countries this month. Her upcoming visit to Myanmar scheduled on May 15 is only bilateral. Others are multilateral and related to attending international conferences and seminars. It may be mentioned that Foreign Adviser to Fakhruddin's caretaker government Dr. Iftekhar Choudhury hit the newspaper headlines by visiting 22 countries in 18 months. Country's only woman Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, who was considered to be the best among the ministerial lots in the Cabinet, is said to have been following her predecessor Dr. Iftekhar Choudhory. There are 14 countries where no ambassador has yet been posted. New Foreign Secretary has not yet been appointed after induction of the new Government. The corridor in the Foreign Ministry is often crowded by the pro-Awami League diplomats to grab the prized foreign ministry postings. The Foreign Minister is not learnt to have given enough time to meet the needs of her office. Dr. Dipu Moni began his foreign tour just after her induction as foreign minister by visiting Geneva where she attended a human rights conference. She announced Bangladesh's Zero tolerance to extra-Judicial killings in the Geneva conference which obtained acclaim from the international circle The second trip of Dipu Moni was to Malaysia. She was accompanied by expatriates Welfare Minister Dr. Mosharraf Hossain during her visit to Malaysia where she tried to resolve the revocation of work visas of 55,000 Bangladeshi workers. Her visit to Malaysia was neither bilateral nor formal. They went to Malaysia to represent Bangladesh Prime Minister in the National Conference of the Malaysia's ruling Party. She succeeded in meeting the top leaders of Malaysia on the sidelines and returned home empty handed except having some assurances to resolve the work permit issue of the expatriates.. After Malasyia Dr. Dipu Moni made a brief sojourn at Netherland to attend a International Conference on Afghanistan. There she met US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton on the sidelines. She invited Clinton to visit Bangladesh. After Netherland she visited Turkey to attend a Multilateral Forum. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni visited Saudi Arabia as a member of PM Hasina's delegation. She could not hold bilateral meeting with her Saudi Counterpart Prince Faisal. But her Saudi Counterpart called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Hotel Suite. Dipu Moni visited Norway after her return from Saudi Arabia to attend a world conference on climate change in Oslo. She also visited Cuba to attend a non-aligned ministerial meet in Havana, the capital of the country. Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni was scheduled to fly to South Africa today to attend the swearing-in ceremony of South Africa's President Dr. Jacob Juma. President Zillur Rahman was invited to join the coronation of the South Africa's President. Dipu Moni is to represent him as he is sick. In 1991 and 1996 the Foreign Ministers of both BNP and Awami League Governments respectively attended the coronation of the then presidents of South Africa. On May 11, Dipu Moni will return to Dhaka from South Africa only to embark on Myanmar tour on May 15. Gen Rokonuddullah, the outgoing Ambassador to Myanmar, was made special envoy to prepare the groundwork of Dipu Moni's visit to Mayanmar. Demarcation of maritime boundary, repatriation of Rohingya refugees and barbed wire fencing on the border are to be the thorny issues to be discussed in the bilateral meeting. The departure of Major General Anup Chakma, the newly appointed Ambassador to Myanmar, was likely to be delayed. Foreign Minister is also scheduled to fly to Syria on May 23 to attend OIC Foreign Ministers' Conference there. She is to attend a multilateral conference on May 28 in Singapore. Informed circles said, many of the conferences attended by the foreign minister may be represented by the ambassadors posted in the respective countries. Dr. Dipu Moni was also scheduled to visit war-torn Sri Lanka at the fag end of this month to attend a SAARC ministerial conference. http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/05/07/news0544.htm |
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