US official's visit to focus security partnership, Rohingya crisis

Counsellor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet will meet senior officials in Bangladesh to discuss coordination and response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, strengthening cooperation in international fora, and advancing the security partnership between Dhaka and Washington, said the office of the spokesperson at the US Department of State.

Chollet, who arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday evening, will have a breakfast meeting with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday, where Bangladesh is expected to raise its priority issues.

During his 24-hour stay, the US official will meet Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, apart from his other engagements in Dhaka.

Counsellor Chollet will lead a US delegation to Bangladesh and Pakistan on February 14-18 to meet with senior government officials, civil society members, and business leaders to highlight the importance of their bilateral partnership and reaffirm their shared goals, according to the office of the spokesperson.

Seheli Sabrin, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told reporters recently that the purpose of Chollet's visit is to strengthen the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the US. 

Sabrin said the US official will also discuss the Rohingya issue.

The US counsellor serves at the rank of under-secretary as a senior policy advisor to the US secretary of state on a wide range of issues and conducts special diplomatic assignments as directed by the secretary.

"It is a remarkable journey – 51 years. We are interested in deepening the ties," said the US counsellor ahead of his visit.

Speaking at the television talk show "Tritiyo Matra" recently, the US counsellor said he is coming to talk to senior officials and the private sector in Bangladesh to discuss ways to deepen the ongoing cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning that the US places democracy and human rights at the heart of their foreign policy, Chollet said Bangladesh is such a good, long-standing friend and they have "very frank exchanges" about the concerns they have.

The issues related to the Rohingya crisis and the overall security of the Indo-Pacific region are likely to get priority during his visit, reports UNB.

"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Myanmar, which is only getting worse," said Chollet.

The US wants a solution to the Rohingya crisis, and the solution lies in Myanmar, but instability is growing inside the country.

The US counsellor said they are doing whatever they can in cooperation with Bangladesh and trying to ease the pressure on the country from the refugee crisis by providing critical assistance to it to support its humanitarian needs, as well as with efforts to try to bring some of the refugees back to the US.

There are "a whole host of issues" that the two countries can work out together, said the US official.

Bangladesh saw a series of senior US officials visit it in recent months, with the last one being US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Donald Lu.