Foreign Minister Md Khalilur Rahman and US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor on Thursday held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral relations, with a focus on trade, investment, energy, immigration and the Rohingya crisis, while steering clear of several sensitive regional and geopolitical issues that had been widely expected to feature in the talks.
Gor, who arrived in Dhaka earlier in the day on a three-day visit, is scheduled to travel to Cox’s Bazar on Saturday to visit Rohingya refugee camps before calling on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, the foreign minister described Bangladesh-US relations as “very positive”, saying both sides were committed to further strengthening what he called an “excellent bilateral relationship.”
“We discussed different aspects of our bilateral relations, including investment, energy and immigration. Because of time constraints, we could not go into details, but we discussed the general direction for moving the relationship forward,” Khalilur Rahman said.
Despite expectations that the visit would include discussions on broader regional and strategic issues, the meeting remained largely focused on bilateral cooperation.
Issues not discussed
Asked whether Washington had expressed any concerns over Bangladesh’s relations with China or India, the foreign minister replied that the subject did not come up during the talks.
Similarly, there was no discussion on regional geopolitics, the Indo-Pacific, or the proposed Bangladesh-China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, according to the minister.
The two sides also did not discuss defence cooperation, including the proposed General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), issues that have featured in Bangladesh-US defence dialogue in recent years.
Although the Rohingya crisis was discussed, the meeting did not include any conversation on increasing international pressure on Myanmar to create conditions conducive to the safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the displaced refugees.
Domestic political issues also remained off the agenda. There was no discussion on the Awami League or Bangladesh’s internal political situation.
When asked about the possibility of lifting US sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the foreign minister said the matter was an ongoing process but indicated that it was not discussed during Thursday’s meeting.
Diplomatic observers had anticipated that Gor’s visit would include exchanges on the evolving regional strategic landscape. Instead, apparently the opening talks underscored both sides’ preference for advancing practical areas of bilateral cooperation while leaving more sensitive geopolitical issues for future engagement.
