US to closely watch polls in Bangladesh

GBNEWS24DESK//

The US will be keeping a close watch on the situation in Bangladesh ahead of the next national election, as the superpower wants to promote democratic governance and human rights, say foreign policy analysts.

They say the United States considers Bangladesh strategically important because of its location and maritime access, continuous economic development over the last few years, and the core values of democracy and secularism. That’s why it is eager to engage deeply with the South Asian country in the years to come.

Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the US National Security Council, completed a four-day visit to Bangladesh yesterday, while US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Donald Lu will be visiting Dhaka on January 15-16.

Eileen visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, met Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, PM’s Security Adviser Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, participated in a roundtable with Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and also met civil society leaders to discuss human rights, governance, and security in Bangladesh.

The visit underscored the US’s continued commitment to strengthening Bangladesh-US bilateral relationship, said the US embassy in Dhaka yesterday.

Kara C McDonald, US deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labour, is likely to visit Bangladesh next month. More visits from the US are also likely in the coming months.

There is a general question as to why so many US officials are visiting Bangladesh. The curiosity is more as there were some strains in Dhaka-Washington ties following the sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and seven of its current and former officials in December 2021. Also, Bangladesh was not invited to US President Joe Biden’s democracy summit that month.

Last month, US Ambassador in Dhaka Peter Haas raised security concerns after members of Mayer Kanna, a platform of relatives of some victims of court-martial during the rule of late president Ziaur Rahman, allegedly interrupted his meeting with the victims of enforced disappearances at the capital’s Shaheenbagh home of missing BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon.