The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu is coming to Dhaka on Tuesday on a two-day visit. He will meet with ministers and civil society representatives during his visit to Bangladesh. As soon as his visit was announced, the discussion in political circles started: What message Donald Lu is bringing to Bangladesh.
Donald Lu is coming to Bangladesh after visiting India and Sri Lanka. Washington hopes that bilateral relations between the United States and the countries will be strengthened through his visit. According to the website of the US Department of State - the free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region that the United States wants to see will be important themes to be discussed in Donald Lu's visit. Donald Lu will discuss the climate crisis and strengthening bilateral economic relations in addition to cooperation between the two countries during his visit to Dhaka.
According to the visit schedule, Donald Lu will meet with Foreign Secretary Masoud Bin Momen during his visit to Dhaka. Apart from this, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman and two other ministers will have a courtesy call with him. In addition, there are discussions with the representatives of civil society with Lu.
A top offical in Dhaka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Our relationship with the United States is very good. After the prime minister was re-elected for a fourth term, the US President wrote a letter expressing his intention to move the relationship forward and take it to new heights. Whoever visits Bangladesh from the US administration, we will work together to advance our relationship. There are economic relations, in addition to the cooperation in various fields. However, the ban on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the visa policy announced by the United States for Bangladesh have created some distance in the Dhaka-Washington relationship. We have previously discussed these things in the White House and the State Department in the US administration to ease or lift them (RAB bans and visa policies). Those topics may come naturally. Both countries are working towards advancing our relations.”
Lu visited Bangladesh four times after becoming the position of Assistant Foreign Minister for South and Central Asian Affairs. He last visited Bangladesh in July last year. Donald Lu's statement on the last parliamentary election of Bangladesh created special interest in the country's political circles.
(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on April May 14 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)
