We don't want Russia, US to interfere in Bangladesh's internal affairs: Momen
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the government does not want any kind of interference from other countries in Bangladesh's internal affairs.
"We do not want Russia, the USA or any other country to interfere in our internal matters," he told the journalists at the foreign ministry on Monday.
Regarding the recent counter statements by the two superpowers on Bangladesh's political situation, the foreign minister said, "We want every country to act according to the rules, the Geneva Conventions. We are an independent and sovereign country- everyone should remember that."
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Bangladesh expects that foreign diplomats will stay within the diplomatic norms, he added.
Momen said, "There are rules for the diplomats and they should follow that. We talked about the USA and the Western countries. Our position is the same about other countries as well."
Momen said other countries do not need to give prescriptions to Bangladesh on democracy and human rights as these are deeply rooted in Bangladesh's DNA.
He said the current government is committed to holding free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections under an independent Election Commission.
The foreign minister said Bangladesh welcomes constructive suggestions from foreign friends.
On 22 December, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson in Moscow Maria Zakharova in a statement pointed the finger at the US for "unacceptable interference to Bangladesh" during a regular briefing.
The Russian embassy in Dhaka circulated the statement on Sunday.
The statement mentioned the 14 December incident when the US ambassador was visiting the family of an enforced disappearance victim in Dhaka's Shaheenbagh and had to shorten the meeting and leave the place after being interrupted by a group of people.
After the incident, the US ambassador met the foreign minister and expressed concern over the security and maintained that human rights remain at the core of US foreign policy.
On 20 December, the Russian embassy in Dhaka issued a statement saying Moscow is "invariably committed" to its principle of not interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, including Bangladesh.
On 21 December, the US Embassy in Dhaka took to Twitter to respond to the Russian embassy's comment, saying Washington is against interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.
The development led the Russian embassy in Bangladesh to tweet a meme, accusing the US of interference in other countries.
