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DHAKA: Bangladesh has removed a clause ‘excluding Israel’ from its citizens’ passport, essentially opening up travel from the third-largest Muslim population country in the world to the Jewish state.
However, Dhaka was quick to clarify that the decision to remove those words does not amount to change in Bangladesh’s position towards Israel, as it still does not recognise Israel.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said the move to remove the words “valid in all countries except Israel”, comes in a bid to “maintain global standards”, while adding that Dhaka’s position of not recognising Israel as a country remains unchanged.
“We have taken decision to drop “except Israel” from passport six months ago when we introduced e-passport. It is for standardisation of our passport. However our foreign policy will remain the same towards Israel,” he added.
The country’s foreign minister further said, “We are not going to establish our ties with Israel. We support the struggle of the people of Palestine. We also support two-state solutions. So, our foreign policy will remain unchanged.”
The decision comes at a time when tensions between Israel and Palestine are high. After 11 days of raging violence, both Israel and Hamas called for a ceasefire on May 21.
