Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh and the US have reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation on bilateral, regional and international priorities during the eighth round of partnership dialogue held in Dhaka on Sunday.
At the at the dialogue, Bangladesh delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen while the US delegation was led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.
Both the sides discussed all aspects of bilateral relations including trade and investment, democracy and human rights, security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Sanction on RAB by the US was also discussed at the US-Bangladesh partnership dialogue with both sides deciding to continue the discussion on this issue.
Talking to the newsmen after the dialogue, the US delegation head, Victoria Nuland said that they were aware of the concerns of Bangladesh regarding the sanction and the issue will be discussed further.
“The revocation of US-imposed sanctions on Bangladesh’s
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is a complex issue. However, all sorts of initiatives to resolve the matter would continue,” she added.
Victoria Nuland also noted that there have been signs of progress in terms of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh during the period of the last three months.
“Bangladesh side briefed them about the government’s zero-tolerance to such things, and about the efforts to ensure accountability and justice. We look forward to working together on these things because our cooperation on security and counter-terrorism is very important to us,” she added.
However, she made it clear that the US will not remain silent over violations of human rights anywhere in the world.
Regarding the US-Bangladesh bilateral relations, Victoria Nuland, said that said they have already a “very strong” 50 years of partnership and the two countries can do even more together with further deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields.
She said they can do more in the area of growing business and trade, in terms of technology infrastructure, resilience of two economies, in the area of security.
She said they can do more in the area of growing business and trade, in terms of technology infrastructure, resilience of two economies, in the area of security.
“We have raised deep concern about the recent US Treasury sanctions imposed on RAB and related individuals, and not only explained how this might affect the efforts of Bangladesh Government to combat terrorism and transnational crimes, but also elaborated our Government has been addressing the challenges, the Foreign Secretary said during the joint press meet after the partnership dialogue at State Guest House, Padma.
“We look forward to continuing our discussion in this regard. We also explained our position on issues like democratic practices, media freedom, labor rights, and religious harmony,” he added.
He added that the relations between Bangladesh and the US are based on shared liberal values of upholding democracy and human dignity, commitment towards maintaining international peace and security, and aspiration for socio-economic development of people.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen thanked US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who led the US delegation in the 8th round of the US-Bangladesh partnership dialogue.
UNB adds: Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Sunday said Bangladesh has high expectations from the Biden Administration in terms of building a “comprehensive partnership” as the two countries want to do more to take the relations to the next level.
“This is what we’ve told our US colleagues today. Bangladesh will remain keen in this regard, with the view to work closely with the US in our journey together towards peace and prosperity,” he told reporters at a joint briefing at state guesthouse Padma after the 8th Partnership Dialogue between the two countries.
Masud said this year’s Partnership Dialogue is especially significant for two reasons – firstly, the two countries will be soon celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
And secondly, he said, the COVID-19 pandemic barred them from holding the regular dialogue mechanisms in the last two years.
He said this Partnership Dialogue is indeed the first one with the Biden Administration, and also the first among a series of dialogues scheduled in coming months.
“Thus, Bangladesh is considering today’s discussion as the beginning of a rejuvenated robust engagement with our US friends,” he said.
The two countries are planning to have high level economic dialogue, security dialogue, separate defense dialogue apart from other engagements.
On Sunday, the two sides held “fruitful” discussion on the whole gamut of the bilateral relations between the two countries, encompassing political, economic and security domains.
Masud said Bangladesh deeply values its multifaceted relations with the United States, which is based on shared liberal values of upholding democracy and human dignity, commitment towards maintaining international peace and security and aspiration for socio-economic development of people.
The two countries also discussed the areas of “excellent mutual cooperation” like the Rohingya issue, COVID-19 vaccine support, US development assistance, capacity building in the security sector.
They also exchanged views on areas of yet untapped potentials like exchange of high-level visits, investment, trade facilitation, connectivity, stronger defence and security cooperation.
The FS said they exchanged views on Indo-Pacific Strategy, and also shared Bangladesh’s perspectives on national, regional and global security and geo-political scenario.
The Bangladesh side expressed its willingness to cooperate with each other in UN Peacekeeping operations, and expressed willingness to continue bilateral collaboration in security and defense domains.
“This is an area on which we would have further detailed discussion in the upcoming security and defense dialogues,” said the Foreign Secretary.
In the area of economic cooperation including trade and investment, he said, we look forward to having further discourse in the upcoming high-level economic partnership consultation in early June and possible next round of TICFA this year.
