Bangladesh and Maldives want strong cooperation on sustainable harnessing of marine resources that largely remain untapped.

The talks on the issues came up when Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam called on the President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, today in Male on the sidelines of the 4th Indian Ocean Conference.

At the outset, Shahriar Alam conveyed the greetings of Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to President Solih, according to a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During their meeting, they discussed cooperation on ocean and maritime issues with both the sides stressing on the need for sustainable harnessing of oceanic resources.

The need for exchanging of intelligence for combating terrorism was also discussed.

The Maldivian President sought greater support from Bangladesh in the area of medical education for prospective students from Maldives.

Shahriar Alam is leading the Bangladesh delegation to the 4th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) being organised by India Foundation in association with the Government of Maldives and S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore from 03-04 September, 2019.

He is also a member of the IOC Organising Committee. The theme of IOC 2019 is “Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and Non-Traditional Challenges”.