Jake Sullivan and Sheikh Hasina.
Credit: Reuters and PTI File Photos
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan last week during which they discussed the importance of improving the relationship between the two countries, the White House said.
The Bangladeshi prime minister was here last week and also met several other senior officials of the Biden Administration. Last month, she had a fruitful pull-aside meeting with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
“They (the prime minister and US NSA) talked about the importance of improving our bilateral relationship across a range of issues including climate change,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.
The two meetings gained significance in the wake of the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh. “They did talk about the importance of free and fair elections,” Kirby said in response to a question.
A day earlier, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that the United States wants what the Bangladeshis themselves want: free and fair elections that are conducted in a peaceful manner.
“The government, political parties, civil society, and the media in Bangladesh have all expressed their desire that the upcoming national elections are free and fair and conducted in a peaceful manner – as we want,” he said.
“The visa restriction policy that we’ve announced supports this objective and the desire of the people of Bangladesh to freely choose their leaders. The United States does not support any particular party and does not want to influence the outcome of the election, only to ensure that the people of Bangladesh may freely choose their leaders,” Miller said.