Donald Lu speaks of putting bitterness aside and taking relations ahead

The United States had wanted to see free and fair elections in Bangladesh. They went as far as to take stern measures such as imposing visa restrictions to this end, stirring tensions and unease in relations between the two countries. On his recent visit to Bangladesh, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, Donald Lu, unhesitatingly admitted this. However, putting aside the issue of whether the elections were fair or the human rights situation has improved, he made it clear that the US was interested in taking relations with Bangladesh ahead.

In this backdrop, it was seen that the US has adopted a softer stance towards Bangladesh. Diplomatic sources of the two countries say that this visit of Donald Lu has reflected that the US is focusing on advancing its relations with Bangladesh. It wants to put past bitterness aside and strengthen ties anew. Economy tops the list of US priorities in taking the relations ahead. Economic issues featured in Donald Lu’s discussions with senior officials of the Bangladesh government as well as with representatives of the civil society.

Four months after the general election in Bangladesh, Donald Lu arrived in Dhaka in 14 May on a two-day visit. Earlier, before the election, he visited Bangladesh twice last year, in January and in July.

Evaluating this trip of Donald Lu, analysts of diplomatic affairs say that the US makes no secret of is discomfort over China’s steadily growing influence in the region. For quite some years now Bangladesh’s relations with China have strengthened. Presently, Bangladesh is in talks with China for a loan equivalent to USD 5 billion in Chinese currency. Under such circumstances, the US does not want differences with Bangladesh over democracy and good governance to grow further. Given the geopolitical and geo-economic circumstances, it does not feel that it is realistic to hold on to its previous stern stand. It wants to normalize relations and place importance on economic cooperation at the moment.

The issue of Bangladesh’s economy came up repeatedly in Donald Lu’s discussions this time, at various government and non-government levels. During talks with the civil society last Tuesday, he tried to understand the present economic situation of Bangladesh. After listening to the views of the civil society representatives, he highlighted he views of the US in this regard. He even drew on the example of Sri Lanka, saying that the US did not want Bangladesh to face any such predicament.

On the first day of his trip to Bangladesh, Donald Lu attended a dinner hosted by Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s advisor on private industry and investment. At the dinner he spoke about the shortfall in Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves. He wanted to know why there was delay in releasing the funds of the US companies operating in Bangladesh. But he did not create any pressure in this regard, diplomatic sources say. He spoke about being aware of Bangladesh forex reserve situation.

In his interview with this correspondent, the US assistant secretary of state Donald Lu spoke about cooperation between the two countries, highlighting his country’s eagerness to work with Bangladesh on good financial governance and eradicating corruption. He told the media that he was endeavouring to reestablish trust in the relations between the two countries.

Speaking about what message was conveyed by this visit of Donald Lu, former Bangladesh ambassador to the US, director of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) M Humayun Kabir said the gamut of relations between the two countries is very wide. The relations were not solely restricted to issues of democracy and good governance. For quite some time Washington has been saying that economy is an important factor in cooperation. The matters of foreign currency reserves, reforms of the tax policy, the investment and business environment came forward. When the US ambassador visits Bangladesh Bank and talks to officials there, it is clear that the US has economic issues in its consideration.