PM's Japan visit: Defence cooperation to figure among 8 docs likely to be signed

Bangladesh and Japan are likely to sign eight memorandums of cooperation (MoCs) or agreements, including one on defence cooperation without purchase, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold a summit meeting with her Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio in Tokyo on April 26.

The prime minister is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Tokyo at 7:45 am on April 25 by a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and will land in Tokyo at 5 pm (Japan time) the same day.

Eight MoCs or deals are likely to be signed between the two countries in the sectors of agriculture, metro rail, industrial upgradation, ship recycling, customs matters, intellectual property, defence cooperation, ICT and cyber security cooperation etc. in presence of the two leaders after the formal bilateral summit meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Japan.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Seheli Sabrin were present at the media briefing today held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We have a very good relationship with Japan. They are investing here and helping in many ways including in infrastructure development. Our relationship has been solid. We hope the PM's visit will be fruitful and successful. We are looking forward to this visit. They are also looking forward,” Momen told reporters at the media briefing.

Responding to a question on defence cooperation with Japan, Momen said that Bangladesh is eying cooperation in blue economy and illegal fishing is a major issue; Japan would like to help Bangladesh in protection in this regard.

State Minister Shahriar Alam said the proposed memorandum on defence cooperation between the governments of Bangladesh and Japan aim at promoting and strengthening cooperation in the fields of defence dialogue, exchange of visits, education, training, courses, seminars, workshops, technology transfer and any other agreed activities.

The prime minister will have a courtesy meeting with the Emperor of Japan on April 26 and a guard of honour will be given to the PM there.

The formalities of the summit meeting will conclude with a dinner hosted at the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan in honour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

PM Hasina will be on an official visit to Japan from April 25 to 28, at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio.

Both Dhaka and Tokyo hope that this visit will further strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries.

This will be the sixth visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan. Earlier, the PM visited Japan in 1997, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

Youngest daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Rehana; Foreign Minister Momen; Agriculture Minister; Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser; State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam; State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; State Minister for Information and Communication Technology along with the relevant high level government officials will accompany the prime minister during her visit to Japan.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend the Bangladesh Investment Conference jointly organized by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and JETRO as the chief guest at a hotel in Tokyo on April 27.

On April 27, the prime minister will award "Friends of Liberation War Honour" to four Japanese citizens for their special contribution to the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

On the evening of April 27, the PM will attend a civic reception organized by Bangladeshi citizens living in Japan.

Also, an interview of the prime minister will be telecast on NHK, Japan's state TV channel.

“This visit will create an opportunity to discuss more seriously the issue of the promotion of the relationship between the two countries into a strategic partnership,” Foreign Minister Momen said.

From Tokyo, the prime minister will visit the US and UK to attend a number of programmes.

Earlier, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to Japan would be among the historic moments in the two countries' bilateral relationship, elevating it to a “new stage with new dimensions.”

“This visit is taking place after two postponements. That’s why I myself have big expectations. I do expect that we will have very meaningful and tangible results,” he told UNB in an exclusive interview, noting that the relationship should be elevated to a new stage deepening it in several perspectives and widening scopes for collaboration and cooperation.

For example, in terms of economic relations, the envoy said, they should gradually shift the relations from donor-recipient to mutually beneficial “Eco Partner” on trade and investment.

In order to realize that, Ambassador Iwama said they are discussing a possible “Economic Partnership Agreement” as Bangladesh is set to graduate from the LDC status in 2026.

“Asked whether taking the relationship to a new stage means strategic level, the ambassador said people tend to say from comprehensive partnership to strategic level but he does not want to stick to that notion.

“Definitely, we would like to elevate the relationship to a new stage. You can define it as strategic but strategic means we are doing security and defence cooperation,” said Ambassador Iwama.

He said the existing economic relations will be deepened with diversification of scopes including people to people relations and that is also something strategic and long-term. “That’s my understanding.”

In 2014, Bangladesh and Japan reached an agreement on comprehensive partnership.

Japan hopes that Bangladesh would play a vital role in materializing its new Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision announced by Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on March 20 this year.

Japan is eyeing practical cooperation with Bangladesh to realise the FOIP for ensuring a rules-based international order to bring stability and prosperity for every country as well as to secure peace and prosperity in the region.

In the new plan, four pillars of cooperation for the FOIP were launched: "principles for peace and rules for prosperity," "addressing challenges in an Indo-Pacific way," "multi-layered connectivity," and "extending efforts for security and safe use of the sea to the air."

“Concisely speaking, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio emphasized the importance of dialogue with the so-called Global South,” said the ambassador, noting that he is very happy that this visit coincidently is going to be the first visit from the Indo-Pacific region after the new idea on FOIP as PM Kishida will receive a very high-ranking guest.

The envoy said there are many aspects but connectivity is one of the key elements and PM Kishida mentioned connectivity in a specific term – connectivity between Matarbari to thd northeast part of India. “This is a new idea.”

“I think we can share the common values as Bangladesh also supports freedom of navigation, connectivity and so on. Basic parts of our initiatives are similar. In that sense we can say we are partners in terms of new initiatives by PM Kishida,” said the Japanese ambassador.

Japan expects Bangladesh’s contribution to trilateral initiative on connectivity front, he added.

Quad and Japan’s Views
Responding to a question, the ambassador said Quad is not a military alliance and military and political stability is one of the elements to be discussed during the four countries’ dialogue.

“It’s not a military initiative… during the two leaders’ meeting, PM Kishida would not ask PM Hasina to join Quad,” said the envoy.