Published :Sunday, 26 June, 2016, Time : 12:00 AM View Count : 73
The
fifth annual US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue ended on Friday with
promise of strengthening the areas of bilateral cooperation and working
together on issues of regional and global interest. US Under
Secretary Tom Shanon and Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul
Haque led their respective sides at the two-day dialogue in Washington
where a whole range of bilateral issues were discussed, with security
issues getting priority. Addressing the fifth annual 'partnership
dialogue' that ended on Friday Shannon said that Washington is "proud"
of its partnership with Bangladesh. Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque
said that over the years the bilateral ties have "matured from
aid-dependency to a strategic one," said a press release issued by
Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC on Saturday. The embassy said
noting Bangladesh's "remarkable" achievements in socio-economic front,
Shannon highlighted that the US was "proud of its partnership with
Bangladesh and looking forward to deeper engagements in the days to
come." They also discussed the issues related to various regional and
sub-regional arrangements including SAARC, BCIM, BIMSTEC, ASEM and
IPEC. They also "revisited Bangladesh's leadership role in promoting
regional cooperation and integration and discussed the possibilities
that are lying ahead." 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 peace building, counterterrorism and
higher education, it said. The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary
underscored the government's vision and strategy to become a middle
income country by 2021 with the "intrinsic values of democracy,
secularism and pluralism". The US-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. The three
working groups focused on cooperation in the areas of development and
governance, trade and investment and security affairs. In the plenary session on Friday, the progress of the working group discussions was reviewed by the co-chairs. On
the sidelines of the partnership dialogue, the Foreign Secretary met
with senior US officials including Assistant Secretary of State for
South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal. He also met with
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne
Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for international Organizations
Bathsheba Crocker, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski. Haque also met with Dr Peter Lavoy,
Special Assistant to President Obama and 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, the release said.