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BANGLADESH-USA-TALK
Bangladesh-US talks on Feb 24
DHAKA, Feb 22, 2021 (BSS) – Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will leave here for Washington DC tonight as he is scheduled to hold talks with his US counterpart Antony J Blinken on February 24, first ever bilateral talks between the two countries after Biden administration took oval office of White House.
“The meeting with the US Secretary of State Blinken will be held on February 24 (Bangladesh time) … we don’t have any specific issue, we will have broad-based discussion,” he told reporters at his office today.
Apart from meeting with secretary of state, the Bangladesh foreign minister is scheduled to have a series of meetings with different signatories of the new US administration.
He said Dhaka wants to develop much solid relations with the USA as the new administration is in place there.
The foreign minister said he will talk about various issues including trade, challenges related to COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, Rohingya and deportation of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s convicted fugitive killer Rashed Chowdhury.
Earlier, the foreign minister hoped that the US’s new administration of President Biden would take the issue of deporting Rashed Chowdhury ‘seriously’ as it could be a ‘game changer’ in the Bangladesh-US partnership.
Dr Momen expected that the US will deport the killer, who is now residing in the US with fake immigration papers, in light of shared spirit of establishing justice and rule of law.
Bangladesh expects that trade and investment can be one of the strongest bonds of partnership between Dhaka and Washington DC as the USA is Bangladesh’s single largest export destination country and the largest investor.
Bangladesh is thankful of USA’s principled stand and steadfast humanitarian and diplomatic support to Bangladesh in dealing with the Rohingya crisis since August 2017.
Dhaka believes that contribution of America to securing Paris Climate Agreement and sincere commitment to climate change as a foreign policy issue will help Bangladesh to fight the climate change issue as one of the most vulnerable countries due to global warming.
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