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There is no reason for the USA to impose sanctions against Bangladesh if the upcoming elections are held in a free and fair manner, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Thursday.
“And it is beyond our understanding why there is apprehension of sanctions because elections are yet to be held. If elections are held in a free and fair manner, then I think there is no reason to be apprehensive about any sanctions,” he said while interacting with the members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB) in the foreign ministry.
“Although any country has the sovereign rights to do anything like imposing sanctions, I don’t think it will be logical,” he added.
When asked whether the foreign ministry has made necessary preparations to address the potential challenges of sanctions after the elections, he said that the appropriate course of action would be determined as per the situation.
"However, one should not think that we will not ensure the holding of free and fair elections, keeping in mind any apprehension of sanctions, he added.
"Although any country has the sovereign right to impose sanctions, I don’t believe it would be logical," he added.
“The government is committed to holding free and fair elections,” he said.
Responding to a question about whether the international community will raise questions about the credibility of the polls due to the absence of major political parties like the BNP, he said the main issue is the participation of voters and conducting the polls in a free and fair manner.
The foreign secretary said that the foreign ministry has been engaged in addressing the challenges of maintaining equal ties with the rival powers in the new multipolar world. “And in fact many countries praised us for successfully handling the foreign relations with all the superpowers,” he remarked.
On the Rohingya situation, he said that although everything was set to start repatriation on a pilot basis towards the end of the year, it could not be started due to the sudden deterioration of the security situation in the Rakhine State of Mayanmar.
Responding to a question, he said that Bangladesh does not want to see any proxy war in this region and is committed to not allowing any country to use its land for waging war against another country.
He also mentioned that this year, Bangladesh has been successful in winning elections in many international forums.