Shawdesh desk:

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Monday said that his Argentine counterpart Santiago Andrés Cafiero would be in Bangladesh on a two-day official visit in February – as the two sides want to strengthen ties in the coming days.

‘I have invited him. He (Argentine foreign minister) will come. I told him to bring Lionel Messi with him,’ Momen told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that it will be a plus for Bangladesh if Argentina opens a mission in Bangladesh.

Momen said that Argentina ‘in principle agreed’ to open its mission or consulate in Dhaka and the government of Bangladesh also has a plan to open a mission in Argentina. Bangladesh has already opened a mission in Brazil.

‘We hope we will open a Bangladesh mission in Argentina in future,’ he said, adding that Bangladesh considers three things – size of Bangladeshi community there, importance of the host country, and flow of remittance into Bangladesh – before opening any mission abroad.

Momen said that Argentina was a good friend of Bangladesh and always remains supportive. ‘We have a very good relationship with Argentina.’

‘I believe, hearts of the people of Bangladesh and Argentina are united by football, despite our geographical distance,’ Momen said in a recent letter to the Argentine foreign minister.

He reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to deepen the existing relations and friendship between the two countries.

‘I look forward to working closely to consolidate our mutual priorities and opening of missions in each other’s capital in the coming days,’ he said.

Homes and streets across Argentina and Bangladesh became places of celebration after an epic World Cup final in which the former’s national team beat France. It was the country’s third World Cup title.