Bangladesh appointed chairperson of OPCW executive council

Staff Correspondent :  Bangladesh has been appointed the Chairperson of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Netherlands. This is a first for Bangladesh, said the foreign ministry on Thursday, describing it as a “big diplomatic achievement.

OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), established in 1997. It has 192 member states, which advocate against chemical weapons.

The win was registered when Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW Sheikh Mohammed Belal was elected on Thursday as the Chairperson of the Executive Council of the OPCW for the term May 12, 2017 to May 11, 2018.

The Foreign Ministry said Bangladesh’s election as the Chairperson of the Executive Council of the OPCW shows the international community’s appreciation of its contribution to the world peace and signifies international recognition of Bangladesh’s efforts to attain global disarmament and stem proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Ambassador Belal, will be the twentieth Chairperson of the Council since its establishments in 1997, was unanimously elected by the 41-member strong Executive Council of the OPCW comprising of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) during the 84th Session of the Executive Council of the OPCW being held in The Hague, Netherlands from March 7-10.

The term for Chairperson from Asian group is available after every five years and so far only four Chairpersons from Asia represented this august body.

Previously on March 6, the 53-member States Parties belonging to the Asian group nominated Ambassador Belal as the consensus candidate of the group for the position of Chairperson of the Executive Council for 2017-2018.  Belal was favored strongly over his contender Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands.