Staff Correspondent Bangladesh recognises France as an “active voice” in promoting and protecting democracy, civil liberty and freedom across the globe, the foreign minister has said. We share so many common values,” Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Tuesday on the France’s national day. July 14 is the French National Day, also known as the Bastille Day. On that day in 1789, people stormed the Bastille prison tower, a symbol of tyranny, to get rid of absolute monarchy. The foreign minister speaking at a reception hosted by France Ambassador Sophie Aubert at her residence said the day was a “source of inspiration for the freedom loving people around the world”. He said the spirit of “equality and liberty” of the French revolution provided Bengalis the strength to fight in 1971 War of Independence against Pakistan. He recalled the support of French people during the war, particularly leading intellectuals like Andreas Malreaux who stood by the freedom fighters. ‘Excellent bilateral relations’ On the eve of the day, the French ambassador on Monday had said Paris wished to increase its presence in Dhaka with the engagement in new projects. On Tuesday she reiterated that her country would like to be part of Bangladesh’s many new projects, particularly in the launch of first satellite launch “Bangabandhu”. The foreign minister said the bilateral cooperation embraced many sectors – from business and industry to culture. “Bangladesh and France enjoy excellent relations,” he said, “the relations and engagements run even deeper between our two peoples”. It began even before the birth of Bangladesh, he said, and now the growing interaction between the political leaders, businessmen, entrepreneurs, scholars, artists and researchers of the two countries were “well marked”. The foreign minister said Bangladesh’s preeminent painter Shahabuddin Ahmed and mime artist Partha Pratim Majumder, who live in France, added “additional dimension” to the French-Bangladesh cultural ambit and people-to-people contact. But there were also scopes for further convergence of shared global interests and responsibilities. Ali also recalled his last month’s official visit to France when his counterpart conveyed that he along with German foreign minister would jointly visit Dhaka in September. He promised Bangladesh’s full cooperation to France in the upcoming climate summit at Paris in November.