At a meeting in London on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and British Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Margaret Beckett MP also reaffirmed their commitment to increase bilateral trade and investment.

"Britain and Bangladesh will continue to cooperate closely as friends, bilaterally as well as multilaterally, including at the UN and the Commonwealth," Beckett said.

The meeting was "extremely fruitful" and covered the entire gamut of Bangladesh-UK bilateral relations, said a release from Bangladesh High Commission in London yesterday.

The British Foreign Secretary conveyed her government's appreciation to Bangladesh for its support to the thematic debate recently held at the UN Security Council on 'Energy, Security and Climate Change'.

She also expressed her firm resolve to work towards mitigation as well as adaptation measures to combat the adverse effects of climate change on Bangladesh.

"Britain also looks forward to working in close concert with Bangladesh on counter-terrorism measures both bilaterally and through global institutions," Beckett said.

The adviser briefed Beckett about the structural reforms undertaken by the caretaker government to create sustainable electoral, political, anti-corruption and public administration institutions in Bangladesh in order to create a level-playing field for a credible election by December 2008.

He said: "Democratic spirit and pluralist ethos are deeply ingrained in Bangladesh's society, which also takes pride in a vibrant civil society, a fiercely free press, intellectual thought, leadership in micro-credit and a disciplined armed force contributing to global peace and stability."

Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury sought technical and other forms of support from the British government to facilitate the work of the Election Commission for the 2008 elections.

Beckett said her government was happy with the announcement of election timeline by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and looked forward to providing all out support to Bangladesh's electoral process.

She also praised the caretaker government for its stringent anti-corruption drive, which she hoped would contribute to good governance.

Later, Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed made a keynote policy speech at the prestigious British diplomatic think-tank, the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), on 'Challenges for Bangladesh in South Asia'.

The lecture was attended by high Commissioners, ambassadors and diplomats resident in London and Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General and senior officials from the FCO, DFID, international human rights and development agencies and other international think-tanks.