Dhaka, Washington agrees to enhance cooperation in Counterterrorism

UsaNewsOnline.Com Desk, Washington, DC : The 5th Partnership Dialogue between Bangladesh and the United States began at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on Thursday. On the first day of the two-day Dialogue, the three Working Groups on ’Security Cooperation’, ‘Development and Governance Cooperation’, and ‘Trade and Investment Cooperation’ held in-depth discussion on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Both the delegations agreed to enhance the cooperation in the areas of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism through capacity enhancement.

The US delegation highly appreciated the valuable contribution made by Bangladesh for almost three decades to the UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Bangladesh delegation was also appreciative of the support of USAID over last four and a half decades for the socio-economic development in the country in a variety of areas including agriculture, higher education, climate change and health. The two delegations underscored the need for continued and wider cooperation in existing and new areas.

The US delegation praised the Government of Bangladesh for hosting a large number of undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh for decades. Both the delegations also agreed to encourage Bangladeshi Diaspora to invest in the potential sectors of Bangladesh and thus contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

The US delegation expressed interest for supporting the regional connectivity initiatives particularly in the sector of energy under IPEC, and blue economy. The two delegations discussed the achievements of Bangladesh in addressing the issues in the RMG sector and agreed to continue the multi stakeholder cooperative mechanism in this regard.

The delegations also agreed to continue the discussion in the area of trade and the Foreign Secretary, Md. Shahidul Haque, made a presentation on ‘Bangladesh by 2030/35: Challenges and Prospects’ at the reputed think tank, Council on Foreign Affairs (CFR), in Washington, DC, this afternoon. The event was participated by a good number of U.S. researchers, scholars and policy thought leaders, who engaged with the Foreign Secretary in an enlightening interaction after his very well appreciated presentation, where he projected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of Bangladesh becoming a Middle Income Country by 2021 and a Developed Country two decades from then.

The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary focused, among other issues, on the Great Prospects of Trade and Investment, Strength of Bangladesh Economy, Deeper Connectivity, Challenges of Climate Change, and a Strategic Vision of a Developed Bangladesh in 2030/35 having the intrinsic values of Democracy, Secularism, Pluralism and Liberalism. Press Release.