Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has called for the implementation of climate financing pledges commensurate with the principles of loss and damages ahead of the climate conference going to take place in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh next month.
He was speaking at the Sixth Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.
Speaking at the forum of the leaders of 27 member countries of CICA, including 12 heads of state or government and two deputy heads of state, he warned of a grim economic future as the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on and continues to disrupt the supply chain, cause fuel shortage and price hike.
Momen called for restraints from all parties and a quick and peaceful resolution of the dispute.
The foreign minister reaffirmed Bangladesh’s complete commitment to disarmament, including the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Momen also highlighted how Bangladesh, despite external shocks, had been trying to stay on the course of achieving SDG 2030 targets by adopting a "whole-of-government" and "whole-of-society" approach for implementing and attaining the SDGs.
Seeking the support of the CICA leaders in resolving the Rohingya crisis, he stressed that Myanmar must create conducive conditions for the safe, sustainable, and dignified return of their nationals to Myanmar.
He congratulated CICA member states on the 30th anniversary of CICA and assured of Bangladesh's continuous support and sponsorship of the CICA’s confidence-building measures.
At the summit, the CICA leaders had a substantive exchange of views on possible areas of collaboration and cooperation and adopted documents on CICA Fund, cooperation in security in and use of ICT and CICA plan of action on implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UNGCTS).
The leaders agreed to formally launch the process of upgrading CICA from a forum to an international regional organisation and issued a statement titled “Astana Statement on CICA Transformation”.
Foreign Minister Momen is also scheduled to meet foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday.
