Dhaka: Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman is scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia early Wednesday, marking his first foreign trip since assuming office. Accompanied by Humayun Kabir, Adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the Foreign Minister aims to participate in a critical Foreign Ministers-level meeting in Jeddah. The meeting will address the contentious issue of illegal Israeli occupation decisions, focusing on settlement, annexation, and the imposition of alleged Israeli sovereignty on the occupied West Bank.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will convene an emergency meeting of the Open-ended Executive Committee at the Foreign Ministers level on Thursday at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah. The gathering seeks to coordinate positions and devise strategies to counteract the Israeli occupation’s latest decisions. These decisions include initiating procedures to classify lands in the occupied West Bank as ‘state property’, part of a broader illegal agenda to alter the legal, political, and demographic status of the Palestinian territory, thereby jeopardizing the two-state solution. Bangladesh has emphasized its longstanding diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia, initiated during the presidency of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman in 1976, and acknowledged his pivotal role in fostering Muslim unity.
Following the OIC meeting, Dr Khalilur Rahman will travel to the United Kingdom to participate in the 26th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) at Lancaster House in London on March 8. A senior official informed UNB that the meeting, which will feature remarks from Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio’o, Minister of Finance of the Independent State of Samoa, and Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey, is significant for signaling the start of Commonwealth Day activities.
This 26th CFAMM will see Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers discuss the organization’s role in a rapidly evolving global landscape and explore transformative solutions for shared prosperity amid a fragmented global climate. For the first time, the meeting will take place within the framework of an executive retreat, aiming to produce a comprehensive plan for a proactive Commonwealth. Secretary-General Botchwey will be meeting with Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers for the second time, shaping policy priorities leading to the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled in Antigua and Barbuda from November 1-4, 2026.