Bangladesh will consider sending troops to Saudi Arabia only if UN Security Council (UNSC) approves it and in case the two holy mosques face threats.

During a meeting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir in Dhaka on Tuesday, it was made clear that Bangladesh would not participate in any military operation in any part of the world if not mandated by the UNSC, diplomatic sources said.

Hasina, however, gave a positive response regarding extending support to the Arab country in countering terrorism and religious extremism.

She welcomed the Saudi initiative to form a 34-nation coalition of like-minded Islamic countries to fight terrorism but at the same time cited the government's policy that requires UN approval for its participation in any military operation of the alliance. 

The Saudi foreign minister paid the visit to Dhaka reportedly to know how Bangladesh could militarily assist the Middle Eastern country. A visit to Saudi Arabia by Hasina is on the cards by May.

At the meeting, Hasina told the Saudi minister that her country joined the Saudi-led Islamic Alliance (Dhaka calls it “Counter-Terrorism Centre”) along with other Muslim countries as per its “zero tolerance” policy to fight terrorism and extremist ideology, highly placed sources said.

The Saudi minister did not directly seek military support from Bangladesh, but he expressed the hope that the government would come forward if Saudi Arabia and the custodian of the two holy mosques there were threatened.

The PM in response assured him of Bangladesh's strong support if any such situation arises.

The People of Bangladesh hold Saudi Arabia and the mosques in high esteem and so would always stand by the people of Saudi Arabia against any threat, sources quoted her as saying to the Saudi minister. 

Al-Jubeir said there would be no pressure on any of the alliance members to have military involvement.

The alliance has military and non-military aspects and its members can contribute to any of the areas, he added.

At this stage, the PM said Bangladesh would have an active role in sharing information, intelligence, policies, experiences and best practices with the Muslim countries, diplomatic sources said.

During the meeting, Hasina and the Saudi foreign minister agreed to deepen the bilateral cooperation in all fields, including defence, security, fight against terrorism, trade and investment and manpower, according to highly placed sources.

The Saudi minister appreciated the valiant efforts made by the security and law enforcement agencies to root out “terrorism” from Bangladesh and the government's zero-tolerance policy towards all sorts of terrorism and violent extremism, sources said.

It was also agreed that the two countries would cooperate in developing an effective counter-narrative against the extremist mindset.

Diplomatic sources said the Arab country had launched an aggressive move to mobilise global support, especially from Islamic countries, since the diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran were cut off after Saudi Arabia executed a Shiite cleric in January this year.