USA proud of its partnership with Bangladesh : Under Secy Shannon Bangladesh-US relationship got matured: FS Shahidul Haque

UsaNewsOnline.Com, Washington, DC : Bangladesh and the USA concluded the fifth annual Partnership Dialogue on Friday in Washington, DC reiterating their commitment to enhance Dhaka-Washington bilateral cooperation and work together on issues of regional and global interests.

Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque led the inter-ministerial Bangladesh delegation at the two-day dialogue while the US delegation was led by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Ambassador Tom Shannon.

The U.S.-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, established in 2012, is a regularly planned policy consultation designed to advance the common agenda and opportunities for cooperation across the full range of bilateral and regional issues.
During the deliberations that started on June 23 the two sides emphasized on enhancing bilateral relations and reiterated their commitments to work together on issues of national, regional and global interests.

The three working groups focused on cooperation in the areas of development & governance, trade & investment and security affairs.

They discussed a range of bilateral issues including migration, climate change, disaster management, health, higher education, agricultural cooperation, diaspora, regional cooperation, blue economy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, counterterrorism & countering violent extremism and higher education.

In the plenary session on Friday, the progress of the working group discussions was reviewed by the co-chairs. The Foreign Secretary underscored Bangladesh government’s vision and strategy to become a middle income country by 2021 having the intrinsic values of democracy, secularism and pluralism. On bilateral relationship between the two friendly countries, the Foreign Secretary noted that over the years the bilateral ties have become matured from aid-dependency to a strategic one.

Noting Bangladesh’s remarkable achievements in socio-economic front, Ambassador Shannon highlighted that the USA was proud of its partnership with Bangladesh and looking forward to deeper engagements in the days to come.

The co-chairs also discussed the issues related to various regional and sub-regional arrangements including SAARC, BCIM, BIMSTEC, ASEM and IPEC etc. They also revisited Bangladesh’s leadership role in harnessing regional cooperation and integration and discussed about the endless possibilities that are lying ahead.

On the sidelines of the partnership dialogue, Foreign Secretary Haque met with senior US Government officials including Ms. Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Ms. Anne C. Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration and Ms. Bathsheba Crocker, Assistant Secretary of State for international Organizations, Mr. Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, with Dr. Peter Lavoy, Special Assistant to President Obama and Mr. Jonathan Finer, Chief of Staff of the Secretary of State.

The sideline meetings held in a friendly and congenial atmosphere also discussed issues of mutual interests in bilateral and regional setup and beyond. Press Release.