US wants to strengthen ties with Bangladesh: Salman F Rahman

Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman informed that the United States (US) has expressed keenness to expand the existing relations with Bangladesh.

"They want to strengthen the existing ties. They want to work with us in many areas," he said.

Salman was briefing journalists after a discussion with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu at his Gulshan residence last night.

He hosted the dinner in honour of visiting Donald Lu and his delegation.

Salman said the US side wanted to know about Bangladesh's plans to improve the foreign currency reserve situation and make payments to the US companies who are doing business with Bangladesh smoothly.

In reply, Salman told the US delegation that he is hopeful of increased remittance flow and export earnings with the measures taken recently.

"So, our reserve position will get better," he mentioned.

"Not that we have stopped making payment but it's getting delayed in some cases. We are continuously making payments," he added.

Responding to a question, Salman said there was no discussion on China as Bangladesh maintains friendship to all.

He said the US briefly talked about free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, in line with what they always say.

Responding to a question, Salman informed, they urged the US to put pressure on Myanmar for repatriation.

The US agreed to do so, he added.

They also spoke about regional power connectivity between Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the crisis in Gaza.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq, State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, former state minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Distinguished Fellow & Board Member of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute Farooq Sobhan and prominent economist Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad joined the dinner from Bangladesh side.

Chief of Staff of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Nate Haft, SCA/NSBM Political Unit Chief Sarah Aldrich, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D Haas and Arturo Hine (Political Counsellor) and Matthew Beh (Political Officer) at the US Embassy, Dhaka also attended.

Lu arrived on Tuesday morning to "strengthen bilateral cooperation" and to demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.