The South Sudan government named a road in its capital Juba as “Bangladesh Road” as a gratitude for the contribution made by the Bangladesh peacekeepers in maintaining peace and expediting development work in that new African nation.
The road was constructed with the help of the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Engineering contingent deployed in South Sudan, a foreign ministry press release said on Saturday.
The Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Engineering contingent received lots of applause from the people and the government of South Sudan for their pro-people construction works, it added.
The issue was discussed when Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, now visiting South Sudan, held a meeting with South Sudanese acting defence minister general Chol Thon Balok in Juba on Friday.
During the meeting, Balok praised the contribution of Bangladesh peacekeepers in infrastructure development of South Sudan as well as that in health services.
He commended Bangladesh peacekeepers for being trained, disciplined and efficient.
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The Bangladesh foreign minister mentioned that Bangladesh attaches great importance to its relations with South Sudan and likes to build development partnerships with that African nation.
He suggested that cooperation between the two countries may be built in areas like pharmaceuticals, RMG, agriculture and ICT sectors.
“The philosophy of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman stipulates peace as a prerequisite of development,” Dr Momen said.
Referring to the support of Bangladesh for the membership of South Sudan in the United Nations, he underlined the importance of collaboration and partnership to achieve the common aspirations of the peoples of the two countries for social and economic development.
Later in the evening, the foreign minister attended a programme arranged by the local Bangladeshi community in Juba in a hotel.
He hoped that the Bangladesh community in South Sudan would play a significant role in developing the bilateral relations between the two countries.
