US reaffirms strong support for Bangladesh
The United States has reiterated its assurance for strong cooperation with Bangladesh on democratic reforms and economic restructuring, emphasising the importance of Dhaka-Washington collaboration for the security and prosperity of South Asia.
The issues came up as foreign secretary Jashim Uddin, who is now on an official trip to Washington, held meetings with different US officials. Some of them also shared the meeting outcomes on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
After reaching there Wednesday night, the foreign secretary held a key meeting with the acting under secretary of state for political affairs, John Bass, on the following day. Later, he was supposed to meet with Lindsey W Ford, senior director for South Asia at the US national security council; Richard R Verma, deputy secretary of state; and Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative.
The foreign secretary attended a luncheon with senior officials from the US state department, including assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu.
Sharing a still of his meeting with the foreign secretary, John Bass wrote on X, “Appreciated meeting today with Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Uddin to discuss our partnership on shared economic and counterterrorism goals. We discussed the vital importance of US-Bangladesh cooperation for regional security and prosperity.”
Deputy secretary of state Richard R Verma wrote, “Pleased to meet with Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Jashim Uddin to reaffirm the United States’ support for democratic reforms, stability, and strengthening of Bangladesh’s economy.”
Meanwhile, Marta Costanzo Youth, acting assistant secretary for the bureau of population, refugees, and migration, attended a lunch hosted by the Bangladesh chargé d' affaires in Washington, DM Salahuddin Mahmud, in honor of the foreign secretary.
After the event, Youth wrote on X, "Great meeting with Bangladesh foreign secretary Jashim Uddin. The US and Bangladesh have been partners on the Rohingya response from the beginning. The US is committed to continuing to support the response and encourage other donors to do more.”
Earlier, the US president, Joe Biden, had a rare meeting with the chief advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government, Dr Muhammad Yunus, on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly. He assured of strong US support for democratic reforms and economic restructuring in Bangladesh.
Later, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also met with the interim government chief and discussed bilateral cooperation in detail. Prior to these meetings, a high-level US delegation visited Bangladesh on 15 September. The foreign secretary’s US trip came in continuation of the diplomatic engagement.