Thomas Shannon promises new high in US-Bangladesh relations

The US government considers Bangladesh an “important partner”, a top US State Department official has said. He underscored the necessity of taking the relations to “a new height”.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 13 Feb 2016, 07:27 AM
Updated : 13 Feb 2016, 10:48 AM

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon, whose appointment was confirmed by the senate on Friday, said Bangladesh maintained its broad commitment to democracy, which is one of the core values of the US government.
 
He met Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the State Department on Friday.
 
Alam, who went to the US for attending a special event for LDCs, was the first visitor to meet Shannon in his new capacity. He congratulated him on officially assuming the charge of the office of the Under Secretary.
 
Both of them underscored the necessity of “a close cooperation” in different sectors to generate “positive perception” among the people of the two countries and to further cementing the existing friendly relations.
 
Shannon earlier visited Bangladesh in Dec last year as an Under Secretary designate and said “Bangladesh matters” to the US.
 

“This is a country the world listens to, whether on peacekeeping, climate change or counter-terrorism,” he had said.
During Friday’s discussion that lasted for about 45 minutes, Shannon recalled that visit and said that was “a great way” of his start to visit South Asia.
The state minister thanked him for choosing Bangladesh as his first destination in South Asia.
He remarked that Bangladesh and the US enjoyed excellent bilateral relations and “it was high time to take it to a higher level”.
He particularly highlighted the existing cooperation in security, trade, counter terrorism, and intelligence sharing.
Both of them also discussed other issues of common concerns including the global threat of ISIS, climate change, recent attacks on foreigners and bloggers in Bangladesh.
The state minister briefed the Under Secretary about various initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to counter these radical forces.
He reiterated Hasina’s ‘zero tolerance’ stance against all sorts of terrorism and violent extremism.
Earlier, the state minister held a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal and discussed various issues of common concerns.
Terming the two countries close partners, she also emphasised on enhanced engagements between Dhaka and Washington in the coming days.
The state minister also met with Peter Lavoy, Senior Director for South Asian Affairs of the US National Security Council at the White House.
He lauded Bangladesh’s achievements in various sectors, such as women empowerment, education and her commitment to international peacekeeping and countering terrorism and violent extremism.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Mohammad Ziauddin was present during those meetings.
The state minister earlier
at a special meeting for the least developed countries (LDCs) in New York on Feb 11.
The president of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly convened the one-day special thematic event at the UN Headquarters.
Alam presented a keynote where he stressed on international cooperation in addition to efforts by LDC governments for ensuring that those countries meet the target of graduation within the deadlines and achieve the new sustainable development goals.