Mushfiqul Fazal, Washington
The United States under secretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights and US special coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya is scheduled to visit India and Bangladesh in July 8-14 for talks with a number of senior government officials, and civil society activists.
Zeya will be accompanied by the State Department’s point person for South Asia, US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and Anjali Kaur, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia.
The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday on a four-day visit.
In Bangladesh, Zeya will meet with senior officials to discuss shared humanitarian concerns, including the Rohingya crisis, labour issues, human rights, free and fair general elections, and trafficking in persons, the US State Department said in a press statement on Friday.
‘In India, she will meet with senior government officials to discuss the deepening and enduring US–India partnership, including advancing shared solutions to global challenges, democracy, regional stability, and cooperation on humanitarian relief,’ said the statement.
In both countries, Zeya would engage with civil society organisations on freedom of expression and association, and inclusion of women and girls, people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups, including religious and ethnic minorities.
Zeya would meet Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama during her visit to India.
It is Zeya’s first visit since the US imposed a new visa policy, especially for Bangladesh on May 24, which threatens sanctions and visa bans against officials if the US determines they are obstructing the democratic process for the elections scheduled for January 2024.
Zeya and Lu are also expected to discuss future plans for more than a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who are in camps in Bangladesh. According to reports, the US delegation will visit the camp in Cox’s Bazar.
During his first visit to Bangladesh in January, Donald Lu conveyed to the authority that the US wanted the next general election in Bangladesh to be held in a free, fair and neutral manner.
NR/
