Democratic erosion could limit US cooperation with Bangladesh: Chollet

News Desk :
Erosion of democracy anywhere in the world, including in Bangladesh, will limit the US’ ability to cooperate with one another, Derek Chollet, counsellor, US State Department, said on Wednesday.
In general, US-Bangladesh relationship has great potentials, which is why there has been consistent stream of officials visiting Bangladesh, he said in an interaction with a group of editors of the country at the American Centre at Baridhara in the capital.
“The United States’ strongest partnerships in the world are with strong democracies. And, to the extent democracy is weakening anywhere, it’s going to be a limiting factor in our ability to cooperate,” said Chollet adding, “It doesn’t mean we won’t cooperate, it doesn’t mean our relationship won’t be important, but it just will be a limiting factor when it comes to business investment,” he added.
Chollet, an official of the rank of undersecretary, said the US companies want transparency, rule of law, accountability when they invest in a country.
He arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday evening and called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and other officials. In the afternoon, he interacted with the senior journalists.
He said Bangladesh is a development success story in the region, and has done a great job by sheltering the more than a million Rohingyas. The US is committed to the strengthening the relationship with Bangladesh as with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
During his meetings with the top leaders of Bangladesh, he stressed importance on democracy, free and fair election, freedom of the press, strong civil society.
Asked what may happen if there is no free and fair elections in Bangladesh, Chollet said he does not want to speculate anything about it.
“I have confidence there can be a free and fair election. The government has said they want to have a free and fair election. We’ve made no secret of concerns
we have had about the treatment of certain advocates in civil society, particularly in human rights, concerns about previous elections,” he said.
He said the US will continue to voice those concerns in the months to come. “But sure, we have confidence and we have heard from the government today their commitment to hold a free and fair election. And we’ll hold into that.”
Chollet also explained that Bangladesh’s decision to not come up with a plan of action for democracy led to it being excluded from the US’ Summit of Democracy, scheduled for 29-30 March.
The interaction was attended by Mahfuz Anam, editor, The Daily Star; Tasmima Hossain, editor, Daily Ittefaq; Fahim Ahmed, head of news, Jamuna TV; Inam Ahmed, editor, The Business Standard; Shafiqul Alam, bureau chief, AFP; Talat Mamun, executive director, Channel 24; and Muzzammil Husain, editor, Daily Samakal.
US Ambassador Peter Haas accompanied Derek Chollet during the event.
Earlier, counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet told reporter that US is “hopeful” about future relations with Bangladesh – building on the strong partnership that has developed over 51 years.
“We are hopeful for the future. 51 years is very strong partnership. We are looking forward to the next 51 years and beyond. We have many shared challenges but we have many more common opportunities that we discussed today,” Chollet said this after a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Bangladesh has seen a series of visits by senior US officials in recent months with the last by US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu.
The US State Department counselor said that the US places considerable importance on its relationship with Bangladesh which is growing stronger.
On the Rohingya issue, he said, they are continuously working and trying to help Bangladesh, and also trying to deal with the root causes of conflict in Myanmar.
“The US is doing everything they can to cooperate with Bangladesh and ease the pressure on the country from the Rohingya crisis by providing assistance to support its humanitarian needs,” he added.