Dhaka, 12 October 2020

''Bangladesh looks forward to steering the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana-Venezuela territorial dispute in line with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's visionary Foreign Policy doctrine of peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and international adjudication'', said Foreign Minister Momen while chairing the first meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana under Bangladesh's chairmanship. Recalling Bangladesh's peaceful maritime boundary settlement with its neighbours taking recourse of international arbitration and international law, Foreign Minister assured that as Chair, Bangladesh would steer the deliberations of this Ministerial Group's work towards a peaceful settlement of Guyana-Venezuela territorial dispute.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen has been unanimously appointed as Chair of this group for the first time by the 7-member group comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

Bangladesh took over the chairmanship from South Africa for this Ministerial Group which is currently overseeing the long-term territorial dispute between the British Guyana and Venezuela over their maritime territory. Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland, Foreign Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica, South Africa and the UK Commonwealth Envoy were present in the meeting. Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Governor of the Commonwealth Board of Governors Saida Muna Tasneem also participated in the meeting to assist the Foreign Minister.