Ma Mingqiang, who is considered one of the most successful Chinese ambassadors to Bangladesh for his efforts on bilateral relations, has left Dhaka without paying farewell calls on the president and the prime minister.
During his stint, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Bangladesh and several Chinese companies were assigned jobs in a number of mega projects in the country.
A government official says that a Chinese envoy always pays farewell calls on the president, prime minister and foreign minister before leaving Bangladesh. But Ma did not do that.
In December last year, the Chinese embassy said Ma would go to Beijing to attend a conference of envoys and that he would like to pay courtesy calls on the president, prime minister and foreign minister since he was going to join a new posting.
Three appointments were scheduled for January at the request of the Chinese embassy and the dates were notified as well.
While contacted prior to the first appointment, the embassy said that the envoy had not come to Dhaka yet and made a request to fix another date.
Before the second appointment, the embassy said Ma was not in Dhaka and again asked for fixing another date.
While asked whether the envoy took away his personal belongings the embassy replied affirmatively.
According to the Chinese embassy's website, Ma paid a farewell call on State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak on December 14 and paid another farewell call on State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid on December 21. No more information about him was available on the website.
The Chinese embassy declined to comment on the matter.This article was first published on banglatribune.com
Thursday, April 25, 2024
