Salma Ataullahjan, Chair of the Senate Human Rights Committee of Canada’s upper house, praised the development of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Dr. Hasan Mahmoud, Minister for Information and Broadcasting who is now visiting Canada and met the Senator Ataullahjan at the Hotel Holiday Inn on Friday afternoon local time in Toronto.
Referring to her visits to Bangladesh, the senator said that the country’s success in socio-economic development, especially in women’s empowerment, population growth control, fundamentalism-militancy suppression and communal harmony is unique.
She also praised Sheikh Hasina for providing shelter to around 1.3 lakh Rohingya refugees and agreed on a permanent solution to the problem by repatriating the refugees to Myanmar.
The Information Minister highlighted the importance of political stability to maintain this trend of development and progress of Bangladesh. Senator Ataullahjan told the minister that she has plans to visit Bangladesh again in the first part of next year.
Earlier, the Information Minister Hasan Mahmood met with Salma Zahid MP, chairperson of the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Immigration and Citizenship.
While meeting her at her residential office in Toronto’s Scarborough area, the minister discussed the relocation of Canada’s visa office for Bangladeshis to Dhaka and the inclusion of Bangladeshi students in Canada’s Student Direct Stream (SDS).
MP Salma Zahid expressed her initiative in this regard and said that she has already discussed with Canada’s Immigration Minister and Bangladesh High Commissioner and efforts are continuing.
At that time, they expressed satisfaction over the fact that the trade between the two countries has been at an all-time high and also stressed on the signing of the ‘Foreign Investment Protection Agreement’ to increase Canadian investment in Bangladesh.
In the meeting, MP Salma Zahid praised the development and progress of Bangladesh in economic and social fields under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina and expressed hope that this trend will continue through political stability.
Khalilur Rahman, Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Canada, attended the meeting.