US Deputy Assistant Secretary Afreen meets BNP leaders

A delegation of BNP held a meeting with the visiting US Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Afreen Akhter and US Ambassador Peter Haas.

The meeting was held at a hotel at Hotel Westin at Gulshan in Dhaka on Saturday (February 24).
On behalf of the BNP, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and organising secretary Shyama Obaid attended the meeting.

Asked about the agenda of the meeting, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "We've come after they've invited us. We held a meeting."

Replying to another question, Khasru said, "We've nothing to say. They've invited us. We've talked sitting together."

In a post on Saturday (February 24) afternoon, the US Embassy wrote, "Engaging in constructive dialogue is key to understanding different perspectives and finding common ground.  

"We welcomed a fruitful discussion with BNP's secretary general about the current political landscape in Bangladesh and the thousands of opposition members in prison. Looking forward to continued engagement."

The US delegation comprising high officials of the National Security Council, State Department and USAID arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a three-day official visit to discuss ways to strengthen diplomatic ties with Bangladesh further.

Besides Afreen Akhter, Special Assistant to the US President and US National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for South Asia Eileen Laubacher, USAID Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia, Michael Schiffer are the members of the delegation to visit Dhaka from February 24-26, a US Embassy press release said.