Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday said that the United States government always wanted to keep different countries under pressure centring various issues.
‘They put pressure on different countries, referring to democracy, sometimes for good governance, terrorism and corruption. It is their politics,’ he said.
The minister came up with the comment while responding to journalists’ query that why Bangladesh was not invited by the US to attend its democracy summit scheduled for December 9-10.
He talked to the journalists after visiting an under-construction Cargo Complex of Sylhet Osmani International Airport in the morning.
‘We have to enhance our patience and to increase our respect to others. We have to strengthen democracy in our country, Momen said.
Mentioning that hundreds of summits are being held in the world, he said that who had invited us or not is a ‘different issue’.
‘It is the matter of America that it will invite whom. We have nothing to do with the matter,’ Momen said.
‘Why you are so worried about such a matter? Rather, we should have to think greater issues. General elections will be held in future in our country and we have to think so that not a single person is murdered during the election,’ he said.
‘Democracy cannot be strengthened on others’ advice. Rather, we ourselves have to strengthen the democracy in our country,’ the minister said, adding that his government along with the countrymen is trying to enhance the democratic practice in the country.
Responding to another query, the minister said that a number of development projects had been taken in the Sylhet airport.
Besides ensuring all facilities to export goods directly from the Sylhet airport, passengers of neighbouring states of India can use it for their journey to and from abroad.
Sylhet district AL acting president Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, city AL president Mashuk Uddin Ahmed, Sylhet deputy commissioner M Kazi Emdadul Islam, SOIA manager Hafiz Ahmed, city AL general secretary Zakir Hossain and joint-general secretary Azadur Rahman Azad, among others, accompanied the minister during his visit to the under-construction cargo complex, local AL leaders said.
