Canada’s envoy to Bangladesh said she hoped the upcoming BNP movement would not be violent, at a press briefing yesterday, reiterating a call for dialogue between the two major parties.
“Everybody is relieved that violence has ceased. I don’t think it [violence] is good for Bangladesh, I don’t think it is good for the people of Bangladesh,” Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Heather Cruden, said.
She was speaking at a talk organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) at the National Press Club yesterday.
“We hope, at some point, the two parties will sit down and talk to each other - not just about the next election, whenever that might be, but to put in place a process and a framework for elections for the next five years,” she said.
She said elections had not been particularly good for Bangladesh because GDP suffered, people got hurt, some died and people can’t get to work because of violence during election campaigns.
“So we need to end that cycle.”
The Canadian high commissioner said there was a serious, inherent lack of trust between the two major political parties and there needed to be a shift in the political culture.
The ambassador said she hoped she hadn’t breached diplomatic norms during her stay in Bangladesh over the last three years.
“Obviously governments don’t like to be told to what to do by outsiders,”
she said in response to a question about why foreign diplomats commented on domestic politics and whether it violated diplomatic norms.
She said Canada engaged with the world on three principles - peace, prosperity and freedom.
“When we see our friends taking action that we think may not be consistent with these fundamental principles, sometimes we engage privately, sometimes we speak out publicly - depending on the issue,” she said.
The ambassador said growth in two-way trade had increased substantially during her tenure as high commissioner, growing to C$1.85bn from C$1.6bn in 2012.
The envoy encouraged Bangladesh to diversify its export products because it was currently dependent on ready-made garment exports.
Speaking about Canada’s foreign aid commitment, Cruden said Canada had decreased its aid outlay due to the economic downturn.
Bangladesh is one of Canada’s development countries of focus in Asia.
The diplomat said Bangladesh’s human resources were its biggest resource.
“Right now you are exporting primarily entry-level workers, low skilled workers. If you can start to export medium skilled to higher skilled workers, whether nurses, teachers, or whatever - your remittances will go up,” she said.
In response to a question about the repatriation of convicted killer Noor Chowdhury, she said: “Regarding the repatriation of Noor Chowdhury, Canada understands Bangladesh’s interest in repatriating individuals convicted of crimes under Bangladesh law.”
She said the case was being dealt with under Canadian law and privacy laws restricted her from making specific comments about the case.
