Both sides talked about the importance of improving our bilateral relationship across a range of issues including climate change…reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan last week during which they discussed the importance of improving the relationship between the two countries, the White House said.
The Bangladeshi prime minister was here last week and also met several other senior officials of the Biden Administration. Last month, she had a fruitful pull-aside meeting with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
They (the prime minister and US NSA) talked about the importance of improving our bilateral relationship across a range of issues including climate change, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.
The two meetings gained significance in the wake of the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh. They did talk about the importance of free and fair elections, Kirby said in response to a question.
A day earlier, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that the United States wants what the Bangladeshis themselves want: free and fair elections that are conducted in a peaceful manner.
The government, political parties, civil society, and the media in Bangladesh have all expressed their desire that the upcoming national elections are free and fair and conducted in a peaceful manner as we want, he said.
The visa restriction policy that we’ve announced supports this objective and the desire of the people of Bangladesh to freely choose their leaders. The United States does not support any particular party and does not want to influence the outcome of the election, only to ensure that the people of Bangladesh may freely choose their leaders, Miller said.
As the time of general elections is approaching in Bangladesh, the issue of US visa restrictions for Bangladesh has once again arisen.
The US unveiled a new visa policy for Bangladesh that stated, “It would deny visas to individuals, from law enforcers to political leaders, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.”
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen spoke to the media on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City. He said that Dhaka has maintained Bangladesh-US relations after Bangladesh achieved statehood and there is no stress between the two nations over Visa restrictions.
“We have no tension with the US,” he told media on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, noting that the US will not grant visas only to those who will try to foil the upcoming election in Bangladesh.
“Dhaka has given a befitting reply on the US visa ban policy and said that it does not impact the current regime…opposition people should be scared” he said.
The US announced that it is taking steps to impose visa restrictions in Bangladesh for those involved in undermining the democratic process during the upcoming general elections. The announcement can be considered as a ‘follow-up’ to the initial announcement of the visa restriction policy in July 2023.
Responding media queries State Minister for Foreign Affairs for Bangladesh Md Shahriar Alam said, “Bangladesh has nothing to lose and the administration in Dhaka is not worried about the visa restriction issue, as it has done nothing wrong.”
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