Shawdesh Desk:

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said on Monday that the government had decided not to provide ‘police escort’ to foreign diplomats stationed in Bangladesh with the taxpayers’ money.

He said that the police authorities were informed of the government decision for its enforcement.

Asked whether ‘police escorts’ for the envoys of the United States and the United Kingdom were withdrawn, he said, ‘We have decided to withdraw such protection for the foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka as the law and order situation here is not so bad. This is unnecessary and so we don’t want to continue proving them with the police escort with the taxpayers’ money.’

He said that if any foreign missions wanted such additional protection for their envoys, they would have to pay for it from now on.

Momen, however, said that providing the police escort was not reciprocal. ‘We do not get such police escort in their countries,’ he added.