Staff Reporter :
Before the arrival of the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, who is scheduled to arrive on a three-day visit in Dhaka today, country’s political landscape has already been mired with various speculations.
The government of Bangladesh has said that Donald Lu is arriving in the country to visit the Rohingyas and to discuss other bilateral issues between Dhaka and Washington.
His visit is going to be a high level visit from Biden administration after the 12th parliamentary election held on January 7.
Diplomatic sources said that Lu will attend a dinner hosted by prime minister’s private industry and investment advisor Salman F Rahman on Tuesday night.
It is expected that the dinner will shed light on various issues including trade and investment.
On the second day, the assistant secretary will hold a bilateral talk with foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen. And later he will also pay a courtesy call on foreign minister Hasan Mahmud.
In November last year, Lu issued letters to three major parties of Bangladesh – Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party urging them to sit together to resolve the political standoff in a bid to holding a free, fair and participatory poll.
Responding his letter, Awami League said that holding dialogue with the opposition parties was not feasible due to time constraints.
Before election the US also brought changes in its visa policy for Bangladeshi individuals, stating that any individual who would undermine the election would face the visa restrictions.
The US government said that they only want to see a free, fair and participatory election in Bangladesh. After the 7 January election, the US said that the 12th parliamentary election was not ‘free and fair.’