Donald Lu with Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud. Photo: Collected
The United States wants to rebuild the trust between the people of the US and Bangladesh, said visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu on Wednesday (15 May).
"Last year, there were a lot of tensions between Bangladesh and the US. The US feels and works very hard to promote free, fair and non-violent elections here and it caused some tensions. This is common in our relationship," he told a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We want to look forward and not back. We want to find ways to strengthen our relations. So today I spoke to the foreign minister about working on our hard issues. We have a lot of hard issues. Such as the RAB sanctions, labour reforms, human rights, and business climate reforms. In order to work on hard issues, we want to build up cooperation on positive issues."
He also said they discussed new investment, the possibility of more Bangladeshi students studying in the US and how to work together in clean energy.
"Lastly, we discussed our works together to fight corruption, promote transparency of government and accountability of officials, and help Bangladesh broaden its tax base so that all Bangladeshis can pay their fair share," Lu added.
Messenger/Sumon
