In response to criticism of Dhaka’s handling of deadly protests that have claimed the lives of at least 150 people this month, the European Union announced on Wednesday that it had postponed talks with Bangladesh on a new cooperation agreement.
The EU was Bangladesh’s principal trading partner in 2023, accounting for 20.7% of its trade. The cooperation agreement aims to strengthen trade, economic, and developmental ties between Bangladesh and the EU.
Josep Borrell, the chief of EU foreign policy, criticised last week what was reportedly a “shoot on sight policy” in Bangladesh, as well as killings “perpetrated by the authorities,” law enforcement officer deaths, mass arrests, and property damage.
The government of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has denied that any live rounds were fired, but hospital sources have stated that both the dead and the injured had gunshot and bullet wounds.
The first round of negotiations on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was scheduled to begin in September, has been postponed due to the current circumstances; no new date has been set,” the EU’s spokesperson for foreign affairs, Nabila Massrali, wrote in an email to Reuters.
However, Bangladesh claimed that because the negotiations conflicted with the UN General Assembly session, which starts on September 10, they had been postponed until November. The EU refrained from commenting on Bangladesh’s response right away.
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