Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has advised the United States to bring money if they want to beat China as he insisted that Bangladesh needs money for development.
He termed the just concluded visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Brussels “very successful” and said the European countries listened to Bangladesh and they would come up with funds.
His comment came as Bangladesh carried out massive development projects including the first-ever underwater tunnel - Bangabandhu Tunnel in Chittagong- inaugurated on Saturday with Chinese funds.
The US is critical to Bangladesh’s democracy and human rights situation.
Talking to reporters after an event at the Foreign Service Academy, the foreign minister said he told the US that there would be “no benefit of scaring us”.
“We need money. So, bring money. You come only with advice. That (advice) cannot satisfy us. If you want to defeat China, then you also come with a basket full of money like the Chinese and tolerable proposals.”
The foreign minister also referred to the prime minister’s visit to Brussels to attend the Global Gateway Summit which is dubbed as the Western version of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
During the visit, the democracy and human rights issues did not come in a big way. On the contrary, the EU showed interest in investing in Bangladesh’s infrastructural development.
“The visit was very successful. They have listened to us. They are coming up with funds. They will not give us only advice or scare us,” he said, adding that the European leaders highly appreciated Bangladesh's leadership and development,” Dr Momen said. “This is a great achievement for Bangladesh”.
He said many countries want to sell their products while trying to put pressure in the name of human rights and democracy.
“We said that we don’t want to be involved in war. We don’t want to purchase military equipment now. Our priority is to ensure people's welfare,” he said.