State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Monday reiterated that there is no possibility of any more punitive measures by any country against Bangladesh before the next national election.
"Not at all," he told reporters when his attention was drawn to media reports that suggest likely economic sanctions on Bangladesh, UNB reported.
Ruling out any such possibility of economic or trade sanctions, Shahriar Alam said he does not know from where the reports were sourced.
Referring to his ten years’ experience in the Foreign Office, the state minister said rumours of more sanctions were spread in a planned manner to create panic and fear among the people.
He urged the media to judge information on its merit and facts by discussing it with officials from the relevant countries, as vested groups might capitalize on rumours.
He was talking to reporters at State Guest House Padma after his meeting with Swedish State Secretary for International Development Cooperation Diana Janse.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen urged all to ignore rumours of new US sanctions, noting that there has been no discussion on this in Washington.
"For God's sake, do not ruin your sleep thinking of those (rumours)," Momen told reporters when his attention was drawn to some media reports that suggested a new phase of US sanctions on individuals.
"We were in the US...not a single person told us that a tornado was coming. You cook it up. They (US) only want free and fair elections. Even the words - participatory or caretaker government - were not uttered," Momen said while responding to a question.
