MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to reopen embassy in Bangladesh

In August this year, Cafiero met with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Kalam Abdul Momen

Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero announced his country would be reopening its embassy in Bangladesh after 40 years, a decision most likely boosted by the Asian country's support of Lionel Messi's team playing the football World Cup in Qatar.

Cafiero said that after participating in the G-20 Foreign Ministers' Summit in India in 2023 he will make a trip to Bangladesh to finalize the details.

In August this year, Cafiero met with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, to promote bilateral cooperation. In that meeting, both diplomats agreed there was “wide potential for trade growth.”

Argentine exports to Bangladesh last year amounted to US$ 876 million, a historic high entailing an US$ 862 million trade surplus for the South American country. The leading items were soybean byproducts, corn, and wheat.

“With the reopening of the Embassy and its consular section, we seek to exploit the potential of the bilateral relation, mainly in the commercial aspect, which has a wide potential for growth, seeking to diversify trade and the Argentine exportable offer. Likewise, to promote cooperation in the sports, satellite, humanitarian aid, and disaster management fields,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Bangladeshi TV anchors announce the reports on Argentina's national team wearing Messi jerseys.

The common bond between the two distant peoples is said to stem from a rivalry with the United Kingdom. In 1942, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered all supplies to Bangladesh, then part of Pakistan, cut off because he believed they collaborated with Japan, which led to the Bengal famine of 1943 that resulted in 3 million deaths.

Since then, resentment toward Britain has remained unchanged. Diego Maradona's 1986 Hand of God and Goal of the Century against Britain was regarded as a bit of a vindication for the Bangladeshi people who have since become unconditional fans of Argentina and stage celebrations even louder and more colorful than those in Buenos Aires every time the South American squad wins.