US partners in Bangladesh extend well beyond the govt: Spokesperson

US partners in Bangladesh extend well beyond the govt: Spokesperson

State Department Correspondent

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price has said that these are people with whom we have a longstanding partnership.

“We will continue to be in close contact with our Bangladeshi partners in government, but also our partners in Bangladesh extend well beyond government,” said the spokesman in reply to a question on the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland’s recent visit to Bangladesh.

State Department correspondent M Mushfiqul Fazal asked this question in a press briefing on Tuesday

The question was, “Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland concluded her three days official visit to Bangladesh without having any meeting with the ruling prime minister. May I know why she didn’t meet with the prime minister of Bangladesh?

And second, this visit took place after imposing U.S. sanction on Rapid Action Battalion for widespread allegation of serious human rights abuse in Bangladesh and the country’s abstention on UN resolution on Russian aggression on Ukraine – obviously this country is supportive to Russia one way or another. So – and the country itself is a problematic situation now in terms of democracy, absence of voting rights, and freedom of expression. Main opposition leader Begum Zia still is under house arrest. May I know what message conveyed to the authoritarian Government of Bangladesh from the Biden administration during this senior official visit? And will the Biden administration be critical on Bangladesh current regime?”

In reply spokesperson Ned Price said, “Well, we have spoken to our relationship with Bangladesh, but the fact that Victoria Nuland was there is another – I think underlines our partnership with the people of Bangladesh. This is a country – this is a people with whom we have a longstanding partnership. This is a country that has welcomed refugees. We’ve been speaking to Ukrainian refugees, but of course, there have been any number of refugee crises in recent years, and Bangladesh, of course, has – as a country has opened its arms to the Rohingya population that was forced to flee Burma.”

He further said, “So, we will continue to be in close contact with our Bangladeshi partners in government, but also our partners in Bangladesh extend well beyond government, as they do around the world: Bangladeshi civil society, working on our trade and economic relationship with Bangladesh as we continue to stand up for values that are universal and that apply equally to the people of Bangladesh as they do to people anywhere else.”

NM/