The US has been pressing greater political inclusion in Bangladesh without which the Asian country’s stability will be at risk..
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal made the statement in her address at the prestigious Harvard University.
The US State Department has said this in a statement on Wednesday.
She said: “In Bangladesh, we continue to press for greater political inclusion, without which, a more stable and prosperous future is put at risk.”
Praising Bangladesh, Biswal said: “Bangladesh is the only country where the US is implementing all three of President Obama’s development initiatives -on health, food security and climate change.”
“With US assistance, Bangladesh is one of the few countries on track to achieve its Millennium Development Goals related to child and maternal mortality,” she said.
Biswal said: “While the Rana Plaza and Tazreen factory fires focused world attention on the inadequate labour conditions, we have engaged, along with European partners, in an intense effort with labour, industry, civil society and government to have great improvements in the garment sector in Bangladesh.”
“Our security cooperation with Bangladesh has grown over the years, not only on the international peacekeeping front but also on border security, counter terrorism and HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response),” she added.
“In Bangladesh, we are helping prepare for cyclones and have built over 500 cyclone shelters since 2001. We recently transferred a US Coast Guard cutter to the Bangladeshi Navy which has already played a disaster response role,” Biswal said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
