US Wants Fair Polls in Bangladesh

The United States wants to strengthen bilateral relations with Bangladesh. At the same time, the Biden administration also wants no one to stand in the way of the upcoming 12th Jatiya Sangsad election.

Representatives of the United States expressed such expectations at the ninth security dialogue between Bangladesh and the United States held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday (September 5).

The first phase of the dialogue lasted from 9 a.m. to noon. The dialogue started after lunch and continued till 4 pm. The Bangladesh delegation was led by the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khandaker Masudul Alam. The US delegation was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Mira Resnick.

Civilian security and human rights, defense, counter-terrorism, and assistance in peacekeeping operations were discussed in the meeting. Apart from this, the establishment of a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region was discussed between the civil level senior officials of the two countries.

The security dialogue also discussed strategic priorities and partnership issues between the two countries, including regional security issues, defense cooperation, civil security cooperation, UN peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, and countering violent extremism.

After the meeting, Foreign Secretary Masood bin Momen told reporters that cyber security, human rights, security assistance, and terrorism prevention were discussed in the meeting. The United States also wants the relationship between the United States and Bangladesh to be stronger.

He said that the United States also wants no one to stand in the way of the elections in Bangladesh. We are committed to free and fair elections. The Prime Minister is committed to that. The necessary preparations for the election are being made. I don't know what the political parties are thinking about the elections, but the election preparations are going on.

Earlier, the US Embassy in Dhaka said that the two countries have the same vision for keeping the Indo-Pacific region free, unfettered, peaceful, and secure. Before this dialogue, a bilateral defense dialogue was held in Dhaka on August 23 and 24. Where senior officers and civilians of the United States and Bangladeshi military forces were present. They discussed issues specific to the relationship between the two militaries, including military education, peacekeeping, and upcoming military exercises; This includes next year's disaster response exercises and exchanges.

In addition, the security dialogue also discussed the overall security relationship between the two countries and the security partnership between the United States and Bangladesh, the US Embassy said.