US Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal arriving in Dhaka Thursday

The US’s point person for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal is arriving in Bangladesh on Thursday on a three-day visit.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 26 Nov 2014, 12:32 PM
Updated : 26 Nov 2014, 02:45 PM

The US embassy says she will hold meetings with high-level government officials, opposition party leaders, labour, clothing sector and business community leaders.

The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs will also travel to the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) in Gazipur before leaving on Saturday.

Biswal in her capacity oversees US foreign policy with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
Last year in November, she visited Dhaka and pitched for a dialogue to resolve the political crisis over the nature of the poll-time administration.
The BNP boycotted the elections and the US did not find them credible, as more than half of the seats returned uncontested winners.
Washington also called for fresh elections as soon as possible on the basis of a consensus.
It is believed that Biswal will take stock of the post-poll situation in Bangladesh.
The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladeshi products, though it suspended last year the GSP privilege that some products used to enjoy, prompted by factory safety and workers rights concerns.
The US and Bangladesh hold regular “partnership dialogues” among other engagements.
From Dhaka, Biswal would go to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for the Annual Bilateral Consultations, the State Department had said earlier.