Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday (13 May) said that Bangladesh will not purchase anything from any country which imposes sanctions against it.
"There is now a tendency to give sanctions, and sanctions on those by whom we contain terrorism. We have taken a decision. I have said that I will not buy anything from those who will give sanctions," she said.
The prime minister said this while inaugurating the five-day-long 60th Convention of the Institute of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) at the IEB Headquarters with the theme "Innovative Engineering in the 4th Industrial Revolution".
"What will you do with me? My parents, brothers and sisters have all been killed. I have nothing to lose. But I want to take my country forward," she said.
On 10 December in 2021, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions against Bangladesh's elite force, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven of its former and current officials alleging serious human rights violations.
Bangladesh has strongly denied the allegation and instead highlighted RAB's remarkable success in combating terrorism and drug menace.