The diplomats from the US, India and South Korea visited Dhaka on the same day and their important visit conveyed the messages of making the bond with Bangladesh stronger and deeper. They stressed on taking ahead the bilateral relationship with Bangladesh according to the perspective of their own country.
The UIS conveyed their message including expectations about upcoming parliamentary election and freedom of expression. India has conveyed message of providing continuous support to Bangladesh, while South Korea gave messages in bringing new dimension in trade, investment and supportive issues.
Derek Chollet, the counselor of US department of state and American foreign policy advisor, twitted two messages after his short visit to Bangladesh. Uploading the photo of his meeting with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said, “The US has been supporting the growth and development of Bangladesh and it’s ongoing. We reaffirmed deepening US-BD Partnership with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina via economic partnership & the promotion of democratic governance including in the elections. Thanked Bangladesh for hosting Rohingya.”
Then, in another twit, he said, “Respect for human rights is fundamental to democracy and for societies to thrive. We’ve heard from civil society members in Bangladesh about their work to promote democratic governance and freedom of expression for the peace, security, and stability of the country and the region.”
A former diplomat, having experience in working in US, said the visit of Derek Chollet has conveyed US expectation clearly regarding upcoming parliamentary election. Derek Chollet mentioned about the necessity of people’s trust in having an accepted election. If the people accept it as acceptable, only then it can said to be acceptable. It’s the very explanation of free, fair and participative election.
Chollet said, “The government of BD stated that they also wanted free, fair, transparent election. I’m also convinced about it. However, we’re concerned about the issues like keeping the civil society under pressure, human rights and former elections.”
According to the foreign ministry sources, the continuity of ongoing bilateral relations has been stressed in the visit of India’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan. Besides, the message of Indian head of government has been conveyed to Bangladeshi head of government. In the message, Indian authority conveyed the assurance of full support of Narendra Modi to Sheikh Hasina and her leadership. In addition, they urged to take proper steps to mitigate issues rose in the meeting with the BD foreign ministry officials.
In this regard, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said, “We’re so lucky that some renowned diplomats visited the country. Seven senior diplomats of the US came here and we had a very good discussion. They expressed their interest in new possibilities that are being created across the country. Mitigating all the misunderstanding, the US wants to keep good term with Bangladesh and the US department of state discussed with the Prime Minister over the issue.”
Foreign minister said diplomats of some countries including foreign secretary of India showed their commitment to work together with Bangladesh.
However, referring to the meetings of US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet with the PM and Foreign Minister, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, the standing committee member of BNP, on Thursday said the US senior official has given a clear message that the relation and cooperation of America will decline with a country where democracy erodes.
"It’s a very strong warning and he issued it sitting on the soil of Bangladesh, and said there is no compromise on the issue of human rights, democracy, and press freedom. The democratic countries that believe in human rights, the rule of law, public security, and freedom of speech are now saying these words,” he observed.
@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on February 17 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque
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