US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu to arrive in Dhaka today (Tuesday) to strengthen bilateral cooperation and demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, which is a part of his tri-nation tour following his visit to India, Sri Lanka.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday told the reporters that the issues related to visa policy and Dhakas call for withdrawal of sanctions may come up for discussion during Donald Lus visit.
"These issues may naturally come up," he said.
As per schedule, Lu will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis to discuss US-Bangladesh cooperation, including on addressing the climate crisis and deepening economic ties, the State Department said.
"We have many mechanisms, platforms and dialogues with them (US). Talks will be to explore how all these can be reactivated and what the mechanisms we can take to move forward," said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.
Foreign Secretary said all elements of the mutual relations - political, economic and even security issues will be discussed.
"The US assistant secretary is likely to discuss bilateral issues with Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen apart from his courtesy meeting with Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and PMs adviser Salman F Rahman," an official said.
Diplomatic sources said that Dhaka will strengthen relations with Washington and discuss the future during the tour. Apart from Rohingya issue, both worker safety standards and worker rights have been issues of discuss.
Despite the progress on worker safety standards in the last decade, the US continues to urge Bangladesh to align its domestic labour laws with international labour standards.
During the US-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Agreement (TICFA) council meeting in September, 2023, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and interagency partners highlighted growing concerns on worker rights in the areas of violence against and harassment of workers, unfair labour practices, freedom of association, collective bargaining and the need for a fair and transparent minimum wage process for garment workers.
Throughout 2023, the USTR, the chief trade negotiation body for the American government, engaged with the commerce ministry to press home the importance of the Biden administrations worker-centred trade policy, urged Bangladesh to reform its labour laws to extend the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining to the export processing zones and special economic zones, and to ease the trade union registration requirements for workers.
During the TICFA council meeting, the US also engaged with Bangladesh on a full range of pressing bilateral trade issues, including trade in agricultural products, digital trade policies, and intellectual property protection and enforcement.
After the January 7 national election, the US in a statement on January 8 said, "Looking ahead, the United States remains committed to partnering with Bangladesh to advance our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, to supporting human rights and civil society in Bangladesh, and to deepening our people-to-people and economic ties."
"The pre-election scenario and the current scenario are totally different. A new government has been formed. A stable government is carrying forward its activities engaging with various countries. All countries think of engaging with Bangladesh," Masud Momen said.
Asked about the pre-election discomfort, the foreign secretary said Bangladesh did never feel discomfort. They might have felt that.
"From our side, there was no discomfort before the elections, and still we do not have any discomfort," he said.
In February this year, Eileen Laubacher, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia, US National Security Council (NSC); Michael Schiffer, USAID Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia; and Afreen Akhter, US Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, paid a three-day visit to Bangladesh.
"There is willingness from both sides. Together, we want to create a new chapter in our relations," Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters after his meeting with the US delegation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, FM Hasan Mahmud said the relations with the US remain "excellent," and the two countries are working closely to further improve the ties. "In the future, we will continue to work closely, and the relations will be deepened," he added.
