Anwar's Bangladesh Visit Gave Hope In Post-Turmoil Period
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 -- Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh, Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, said in a recent interview with Bernama that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's official visit to Dhaka last year provided a much-needed morale boost to the nation as it was emerging from political turmoil. — fotoBERNAMA (2025) COPYRIGHT RESERVED
By Noor Bakthtiar Ahmad and Voon Miaw Ping
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's official visit to Dhaka last year provided a much-needed morale boost to the nation as it was just emerging from political turmoil, said Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus.
He said Anwar's visit also brought hope to the country during one of its most challenging times.
Yunus, who has been heading the interim government since Aug 8, 2024, recalled a period of uncertainty facing Bangladesh following the youth-led July mass uprising that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He likened the situation to being struck by a 'magnitude 9 earthquake' where everything was 'destroyed, in a big mess, and nothing was functioning - only anger erupted'.
'We were given the responsibility of running the country in a very difficult situation. It was an extremely difficult job.
"Not only to clean up (the mess), but you also have to rebuild everything. So we search for a way, space, and how to go about it. And while we are busy figuring out how to do that, we got the good news. The Prime Minister of Malaysia is visiting us," Yunus said.
The Nobel Prize laureate reflected on Anwar's visit in an exclusive interview with Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), led by its Editor-in-Chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj together with Editor of International News Service, Voon Miaw Ping, and Assistant Editor of Economic News Service, Kisho Kumari Sucedaram, before concluding his official visit here this week.
Anwar visited Bangladesh in October 2024 and became the first foreign leader to embark on a significant visit, two months after the Yunus-led administration was formed to put the country back in order.
"He gave us hope. His visit was enormously exciting to the people. Malaysia is well known to the people in Bangladesh because so many Bangladeshis are here, and their families are here.
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