Bangladeshi FM calls for closer cooperation between China, South Asia

Bangladesh welcomes China's application for observer status in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and looks forward to more cooperation between China and South Asia, said visiting Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Morshed Khan on Tuesday in Beijing.

Khan made the remarks when delivering a speech at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences during his three-day official visit to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing.

He said Bangladesh looks forward to China's participation as observer at the next SAARC summit and hopes "it will open one more window" in China's cooperation with South Asia.

The closeness and intimacy between China and South Asia is historically and geographically interlinked. The cultural interaction between China and South Asia dates back to centuries. China's current trade volume with all South Asian nations has reached close to 20 billion U.S. dollars a year, Khan said.

China is "strategically important" for South Asia in modern day interstate relations, Khan said, noting that as Asia's only permanent member in the UN Security Council, China's say and role in global affairs "cannot be underestimated".

Khan listed some areas that he think the two sides can carry out further cooperation, including energy, economy and trade, human resources development and people-to-people contact.

Bangladesh believes that in the coming years, South Asia and China, working under the SAARC umbrella and also on bilateral plane, can harness the potentials of the region by forging cooperative relations in new fields, the foreign minister said.

Khan also said Bangladesh, as the incumbent SAARC chair, is glad to facilitate a broader engagement between SAARC and China.

Source: Xinhua