No change in Bangladesh’s stance over Israel: Momen

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said Bangladesh has neither changed its diplomatic position towards Israel nor recognized it.

“We are yet to recognize them (Israel) … our position towards Israel has not been changed,” he told media while approached to make comments as the words “except Israel” (for travelling) was removed in the new Bangladesh passport.

Momen said removing those words regarding Israel from the passport “doesn’t mean we have changed our position towards Israel. We are still at our previous stand (not recognizing Israel)”.

Referring to the home minister, the foreign minister said, the changes in the new passport have been made to maintain global standards as no passport in the world contains such words.

He said the Home Ministry reviewed many passports of other countries before ordering the new passport books nearly six months ago.

The foreign minister said the national passport carries the identity of a country’s citizens, not reflects the foreign policy of that nation.