Sheikh Hasina writes back to Biden
Bangladesh envoy to US will hand over the original letter to White House
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has written back to Joe Biden in response to the US president's letter expressing Washington's commitment to work with Bangladesh in the coming days.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud handed over a copy of the letter to Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia, US National Security Council (NSC), Eileen Laubacher on Sunday.
It is a response to the letter sent by the US President to the Bangladesh Prime Minister. The letter was shared by the US embassy to the foreign ministry on 4 February.
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Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Muhammad Imran will hand over the original copy of the letter to White House.
The foreign minister has said they want a new chapter of relations with Bangladesh.
"We want to begin a new chapter of relations with them," he said, adding that the nations will benefit through strengthening the relations.
Eileen Laubacher led an inter-agency US delegation during her meeting with Foreign Minister Hasan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
The USAID's Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia Michael Schiffer, the US Department of States Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) Afreen Akhter, and CDA of the US Embassy in Dhaka Helen LaFave were present at the meeting.
Besides, Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Muhammad Imran and Director General of Foreign Ministry's North America Wing Khandker Masudul Alam and other officials from the ministry were present.
The discussions centred around exploring new avenues to deepening the existing relationship. Economic cooperation, trade and investment, Rohingya humanitarian response, climate change, and energy were in focus during the meeting.
The Foreign Minister reiterated Bangladesh's steadfast position in favour of peace and against any form of war.
He asked the US to use its leverage to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Hasan also hoped for the Russia-Ukraine war to end.
The extradition of Bangabandhu's self-confessed killer Rashed Chowdhury from the US was also discussed. He also asked for the withdrawal of the US sanction on the Rapid Action Battalion.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressing his willingness to work together to achieve Bangladesh's economic goals.
He also expressed willingness to partner with Bangladesh on the shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
As the two countries embark on the next chapter of the US-Bangladesh partnership, Biden said he wants to convey the sincere desire of his administration to continue their work together on regional and global security, economic development, climate change and energy, global health, humanitarian support, especially for Rohingya refugees, and more.
"We have a long and successful history of working together to solve problems, and our strong people-to-people ties are the foundation of this relationship," the US president wrote to PM Sheikh Hasina.
