Ambassador Daud Ali will not be in Tokyo during PM's visit, decision is administrative: state minister

Bangladesh's ambassador to Japan, Md Daud Ali, will not be present in Tokyo during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's upcoming visit. The government has decided to keep him in Dhaka on the eve of this top-level state visit.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam described keeping the ambassador away from his post just before the head of government's important visit as an exclusively administrative decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her remark has increased discussion in diplomatic circles.

She confirmed the information while answering journalists' questions on Saturday after a national dialogue at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital, jointly organised by 33 civic and development organisations ahead of the COP-31 conference to be held in Turkiye.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is going on a four-day state visit to Japan from October 26 to 29 at the formal invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Large expectations have been created around bilateral relations from this visit.

The state minister expressed hope that the visit would further strengthen trade relations between the two countries and expand the scope for new Japanese investment in Bangladesh. As Japan is one of Bangladesh's major development and trade partners, the economic importance of the visit is also high.

Although questions were raised about the decision to recall the ambassador or keep him in Dhaka, the state minister described it only as an administrative decision. The report said she did not explain any other reason beyond that.

At the same event, Shama Obaed also explained Bangladesh's position at the COP-31 climate conference. She said that despite limited financial capacity, Bangladesh is playing an important role in climate adaptation through its own initiatives.

Dhaka plans to present, alongside energy transition, the diverse global potential of environmentally friendly jute products at the upcoming world conference. At the same time, Bangladesh will demand ensuring transparency in fund allocation and giving equal importance to both adaptation and mitigation at the conference.

The state minister further mentioned that the developed world must keep its financial promises to deal with the devastation of climate change. She called for the assistance to be released entirely as grants, without trapping affected countries in debt.

Emphasising a coordinated and united national position to secure the country's fair share at the international bargaining table, she said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have jointly formed an inter-ministerial focal team, with an outline to also involve the youth active in environmental protection.

With the Prime Minister's Tokyo visit and the ambassador's absence coming to the fore together, questions have arisen about the visit's preparation and diplomatic coordination. However, the state minister's remarks indicated that all preparations are proceeding according to the visit programme from the government's side.

All eyes are now on the four-day Tokyo visit starting October 26. What decisions come from that visit in trade, investment and strategic relations will be the next big topic of discussion.