The migration, repatriation of Rohingyas, war in Gaza and Houthi issues are expected to dominate the second Bangladesh–Saudi political consultation to be held in Riyadh on July 1, 2024, sources in Dhaka and Riyadh said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will lead the Saudi side while Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud will lead the Bangladesh side respectively.

Private Sector Adviser to Prime Minister Salman F Rahman, Additional  Foreign Secretary (bilateral) Dr Md Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh Ambassador to KSA Dr. Mohammad Javed Patwary, Director General of West Asia Wing  Md. Shafiqur Rahman and director Nafisa Monsur are also in the Bangladesh delegation..

Dhaka and Riyadh will discuss in detail the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the toll of Israel’s campaign in Gaza – which has killed more than 37,700 people since October, 2023, and seek the role of comprehensive OIC countries in getting the Palestinian issue resolved and restoring peace in the middle-east.

Both countries are also likely to discuss the conflict in Yemen as the Houthis have been at war against a Saudi-led military coalition since 2015, a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left 80 percent of Yemen’s population dependent on humanitarian aid.

In December 2023, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced the commitment of the Yemeni government and the Houthi group to a set of measures for a “comprehensive" cease-fire throughout the country and improving living conditions for citizens, within a roadmap to resolve the Yemeni crisis.

Yemen has been mired in violence since 2014 when Houthi rebels captured much of the country from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. The Yemen conflict, however, has seen a de-escalation more than a year ago.

The United States has put pressure on its ally Saudi Arabia to end the war and linked some US military support to the kingdom to ending its involvement in Yemen.

Sources said that Saudi Arabia will raise the issue of over 69,000 Rohingyas who migrated to the kingdom in the 70s and 80s with Bangladeshi passports.  Bangladesh will seek increased Saudi backing  to put international pressure on Myanmar junta to bring back some 1.3 million Rohingyas living in Bangladesh since 2017. The Myanmar government launched an ethnic cleansing in 2017 on Rohingyas that compelled them to migrate to Bangladesh …

The Bangladesh foreign minister will also discuss the proposed visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Bangladesh which will take place soon at a convenient time.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr Hasan Mahmud in March this year held talks in an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah with Saudi Arabian foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and discussed continued Israeli aggression against Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, Home Minister of Bangladesh Asaduzzaman Khan in a meeting held in  Dhaka in May this year with Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Daoud said Bangladesh will renew passports of 69,000 Rohingyas who went to Saudi Arabia after the country's independence with Bangladeshi passports..

Bangladesh will also discuss the issue of the on-arrival visas to Bangladeshis with KSA in the political consultative meeting

Bangladesh has deals with some Middle Eastern countries which allow on-arrival visas to Bangladeshis, Bangladesh is  in discussion with the UAE, and the agreement with the UAE will be signed. In the meeting held in May this year, Saudi Arabia has agreed to sign such a deal with Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has been serving as the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia since 23 October 2019, when he was appointed to that position by a royal decree issued by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Meanwhile, on March 16,  2022, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh  held their first ever political consultation talks during Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s visit to Dhaka.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan led the Saudi delegation in talks with the Bangladesh delegation led by the then Foreign Minister  Dr A.K. Abdul Momen in Dhaka.

“This is a very historic event because this is the first time Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia have had a high-level political consultation,” the then FM Dr AK Abdul Momen said in a joint press conference with Prince Faisal after the meeting.

“We discussed solid cooperation,” he added. “In different international forums we will support each other.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan called on  Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

Prince Faisal said they had an “excellent round of political consultation.”

He added: “We discussed many areas, and I think the most important thing to say is that we are fully aligned in our vision for the future. We believe very much in working together to contribute to the security and stability of our respective regions.”

The prince pointed out that with 3.00 million Bangladeshi expats living and working in the Kingdom, and contributing to its development, the two countries had already been working closely together.