প্রকাশ: 19/03/2022
United
States (US) Under Secretary for political affairs Victoria Nuland is due here
today as Dhaka and Washington are set to hold 8th partnership dialogue to
deepen the ties coinciding with the 50th year of bilateral relations between
the two nations.
Bangladesh foreign secretary
Masud Bin Momen and Nuland will lead their respected sides during the dialogue
to be held at State Guest House Padma tomorrow morning.
Nuland will arrive in Dhaka first
as part of her tri-nation visit to South Asia includes India and Sri Lanka
while Bangladesh foreign secretary is scheduled to receive her at Hazrat
Shahjalal International Airport in the capital this afternoon.
After holding the 90-min
"Partnership Dialogue", Bangladesh foreign secretary and the US Under
Secretary will appear in front of the press for a joint briefing to reveal the
outcome of their discussion at the state guest house.
Later,
the US undersecretary is also scheduled to hold a meeting with Foreign Minister
DR Ak Abdul Momen at foreign ministry.
Bangladesh
foreign office and US diplomats in Dhaka said issues relating to trade and
investment, labour, human rights and governance, global threats including
climate change, regional issues including a free and "open Indo-Pacific
region" and security cooperation are to feature the dialogue.
This
round of partnership dialogue got an extra spotlight as the US slapped sanctions
on the Rapid Action Battalion and several senior officers of the force on
December 10, 2021.
A foreign ministry official familiar with the partnership dialogue told BSS that
Dhaka would raise the sanction issue at the dialogue strongly and describe the
elite law enforcing unit's success in curbing terrorism and drug trafficking.
He said Dhaka would also present evidences that the government took a number of
actions against some individuals of RAB whenever it received complaints of human
rights violations.
Regarding the sanction issue, a US diplomat stationed here said it would be one
of the issues under the human rights agenda during the dialogue.
"(But) this is the partnership dialogue, not the sanctions dialogue . . .
so that's one thing which is really important to keep in mind," the
diplomat said this week while briefing a small group of journalists including
BSS diplomatic correspondent regarding the dialogue.
He said the US wants to focus on "all of the other things that really bind
us, we have a long history going back, we are on the eve of the fifty years of
bilateral ties, we are looking forward to building strong foundation we going
forward".
The US officials said the US embassy in Dhaka, state department in Washington DC
and Bangladesh foreign ministry were worked together to set the dialogue agenda.
One of the US embassy officials said the US side would not prioritize one issue
over another at the dialogue as it is the platform to explore how Washington
and Dhaka could build the partnership that already exists.
He said the US expects the dialogue to expand "the robust"
relationship with Bangladesh, coinciding with the 50th year of bilateral
relations.
"In this 50th year of our diplomatic relations, the United States seeks to
deepen a strong multi-faceted relationships built on mutual respect and shared
interest," said the US diplomat stationed here.
The US diplomat said his country remained as a consistent partner in Bangladesh's
success stories while this dialogue and others scheduled bilateral engagements
this year would demonstrate "our willingness to remain so in the
future" as well.
In October 2019, Washington also wanted Dhaka to sign two defence agreements --
General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the Acquisition
Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which US officials say are "foundational
agreements" meant to strengthen defence relationship.
Besides, in December last, Washington asked Dhaka to inform in writing the
consent to the Leahy Law that governs assistance for security cooperation.
Dhaka, however, is yet to respond to the US proposals while the US officials said
these issues might come up during the dialogue.
The seventh Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue was held in 2019 when the US had
pledged that it would provide additional security assistance for Bangladesh to
increase maritime domain awareness, piracy, and regional security coordination
in the Bay of Bengal.
The two countries have drawn up a series of engagements in coming months as part of which the US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken invited Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen to Washington to mark the 50-year anniversary of bilateral ties on April 4.
Officials said the Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue was sort of
"umbrella" platform while it is set to be followed by a second-round
high-level bilateral economic consultation and an eighth security dialogue in
Washington DC in coming months.
প্রধান সম্পাদকঃ সৈয়দ বোরহান কবীর
ক্রিয়েটিভ মিডিয়া লিমিটেডের অঙ্গ প্রতিষ্ঠান
বার্তা এবং বাণিজ্যিক কার্যালয়ঃ ২/৩ , ব্লক - ডি , লালমাটিয়া , ঢাকা -১২০৭
নিবন্ধিত ঠিকানাঃ বাড়ি# ৪৩ (লেভেল-৫) , রোড#১৬ নতুন (পুরাতন ২৭) , ধানমন্ডি , ঢাকা- ১২০৯
ফোনঃ +৮৮-০২৯১২৩৬৭৭