Coop in governance, trade, security to be discussed during US envoy Donald Lu’s visit

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, who is currently on a visit to India, is set to arrive in Dhaka on Saturday to discuss different bilateral issues.

Donald Lu has been on four-day travel, starting Thursday,  to India and Bangladesh for meetings on a range of issues, according to a press release of the US Embassy in Dhaka. 

During the Bangladesh visit, he will meet senior government officials and civil society leaders and discuss further cooperation in bilateral relationship, economic engagement, and labour and human rights, it reads.

In India, the assistant secretary is scheduled to participate in several events, including the India-US Forum.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, at a recent event, said Bangladesh remains "constructive and very positive" to address gaps and wants to develop a "much better relationship" with the United States, reports UNB. 

Bangladesh and the US believe and pursue the same values and principles such as democracy and respect for human rights, he added.

"We might have gaps or weaknesses somewhere and we have taken corrective actions as the friendly country raised such issues," the minister said, referring to measures taken regarding the Digital Security Act (DSA).

Meanwhile, former Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Humayun Kabir told The Business Standard that upcoming Bangladesh national election, labour rights, Indo-Pacific strategy, defence and economic cooperation, and Rohingya issues are heard to be discussed during the visit

"We should firstly understand the convergent and divergent issues between the two sides. The USA does not ask us to talk on all our matters with it," he added. 

With a 30-year-long career in diplomacy, Donald Lu became assistant secretary of state in September 2021. Prior to this assignment, he served as the US ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2018 to 2021.