Visiting United States assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu is scheduled to hold meetings with the ministries of foreign affairs and environment, forest and climate change today.
During his visit, he would meet with government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis to discuss US-Bangladesh cooperation, including addressing the climate crisis and deepening economic ties, according to a statement of the US embassy in Dhaka.
The US assistant secretary is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on foreign minister Hasan Mahmud and hold a meeting with foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen at the ministry, foreign ministry officials said on Tuesday.
After arriving in Dhaka on a three-day visit, Donald Lu on Tuesday had a meeting with civil society representatives at the residence of the US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas in the afternoon before joining a dinner at the Gulshan residence of prime minister’s private industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman, officials in Dhaka confirmed.
The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, rights activist Nur Khan Liton, environmental activist Sohanur Rahman and labour leaders Kalpona Ahter and Babul Akter were present in the meeting with Lu at the ambassador’s residence.
Law minister Anisul Huq, state minister for commerce Ahsanul Islam, state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, former state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen, among others, attended the dinner hosted by Salman F Rahman.
During his previous visit in January 2023, he had a breakfast meeting with Salman at his residence.
‘Assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu has arrived in Dhaka. During his visit, he will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis to discuss US-Bangladesh cooperation, including addressing the climate crisis and deepening economic ties,’ the US embassy in Dhaka said in its facebook post in the afternoon.
Asked about specific reason why on the third visit to Bangladesh within 17 months the US assistant secretary was not holding meeting with any political party leaders unlike his previous two visits, the US state department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a routine press briefing in Washington on May 13 that a lot of factors went into whom their government officials met with or not.
‘A lot of factors go into who our government officials meet with or not—the schedule, time of day, lots of other things. Assistant secretary Lu is on a swing through a number of South Asian countries—specifically India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He is there to strengthen bilateral cooperation with each country and to demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,’ he said,
‘In Bangladesh, he will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis to talk about deepening our US-Bangladeshi cooperation, including deepening our economic ties in ways that we can collaborate further to address climate issues,’ Patel said, responding to a question whether the US had shifted its position on internal political matters of Bangladesh.
Foreign minister Hasan Mahmud said that the issues relating to the US visa policy for Bangladesh announced before the January 7 elections and Dhaka’s call for withdrawal of restrictions on the Rapid Action Battalion might come up during the visit of Donald Lu.
He said that Bangladesh had a very good relation with the US, and president Joe Biden, in a message to prime minister Sheikh Hasina conveyed on her assumption of office for the fourth consecutive term in January, expressed his willingness to take the relation to a new height.
In September 2023, the US Department of State announced that it had started imposing visa restrictions on individuals involved in undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
The announcement came at a time when the Election Commission of Bangladesh started making preparations for the January 7 election.
In December 2021, the US imposed sanctions against seven former and serving officials of the RAB and the force itself over allegations of rights abuse.
Dhaka on several occasions called upon the US authorities for the withdrawal of the sanctions.
New Age
