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The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is likely to visit Bangladesh in mid-March amid political tensions in the South Asian country, officials said.
UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop had visited Bangladesh ahead of the Secretary General visit. The UN chief will also visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, Bishop said during her meeting with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna. "UN Secretary General will visit Bangladesh. We are still working out his final programs", Md Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser, told the reporters without elaborating. "The three-day trip will start from March 13", a source told ANI. The upcoming visit of the UN Secretary General is considered very significant amid the political and security tensions in Bangladesh. Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said that Bangladesh's sovereignty will be in jeopardy if people do not set aside their differences and stop slinging mud at each other. "I am warning you. If you cannot forget your differences and work together, if you engage in mudslinging and fighting, the independence and sovereignty of this country and nation will be at stake," he said in an occasion in capital Dhaka. "I am telling you today, otherwise you would say that I did not warn you. This country belongs to all of us. We all want to live in peace and harmony. We do not want conflicts or fights. We are working towards that goal," he added. Speaking about the upcoming national polls, he said the country is heading for a free, fair, and inclusive election, and the government will certainly help with the reforms before holding the polls. "Every time I spoke with Dr Yunus, I completely agreed with him that there should be a free, fair, and inclusive election and that the election should be held within December or close to that, which I initially mentioned about an election within 18 months. I believe the government is heading in that direction", the Army Chief said. (ANI)
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