Momen and Blinken agree to enhance bilateral ties  

Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a bilateral meeting on Monday in Washington DC, on the very day of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries. 

The two-side discussed the whole gamut of US-Bangladesh bilateral relations. 

Bangladesh Foreign Minister thanked the United States for providing more than 61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far, the highest received by any country from the US.

Referring to the congratulatory letter from US President Joe Biden to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he appreciated the warmth of the message.

Stating that Bangladesh has made huge socio-economic progress in last 50 years, Foreign Minister Momen termed the US as an all-time friend of Bangladesh in its journey towards development as the largest trading partner as well as the largest investor in the accumulated term.

He appreciated that the US has finally determined that genocide took place in Myanmar in 2017, and opined that the US should suspend GSP and reimpose sanctions on Myanmar in order to put pressure that Myanmar resolves the crisis.

He opined that the US need to diversify its investment portfolio, and can consider investing in the infrastructure sector in Bangladesh.

He depicted Bangladesh’s potential in terms of the young population including around 700 thousand IT professionals; and also proposed that there may be joint investment proposals in the pharmaceutical sectors. He also urged assistance from the US in developing the blue economy, opining that this may enable the two countries to work together in building a secure Indo-Pacific region. 

US Secretary of State Blinken underscored also on looking forward to next 50 years, with tremendous potential. He appreciated Bangladesh’s leadership in climate actions, generosity towards the Rohingyas, and role in the UN Peacekeeping Mission.

He also expressed satisfaction about the cooperation the two countries are having in combatting the pandemic. He expressed his satisfaction with the Partnership Dialogue held last month and the upcoming Security Dialogue and opined that a new momentum has been created. He also thanked Bangladesh for voting in favour of the humanitarian resolution on Ukraine in the UN General Assembly. 

Regarding the sanctions on RAB, he recognized the agency’s important counterterrorism role but stated that lifting sanctions, and resuming training might take time. Secretary Blinken appreciated that Bangladesh is reexamining the Digital Security Act (DSA).

Appreciating the ongoing works of the tripartite group on labour rights, he underscored that the labour rights issue is an important determinant of Biden Administration’s foreign policy. Noting that Bangladesh is not getting development finance from the DFC.