PM Hasina, Joy’s criticism will not affect US-Bangladesh relations

Diplomatic Correspondent  :
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the comments of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Information and Communication Technology Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy regarding the US, will not have any impact on Bangladesh-US relations.
“I don’t think so. We had a meeting and we discussed everything on our agenda thoroughly during the meeting between Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson and Director General of Public Diplomacy Wing said during a weekly briefing in the Ministry on Thursday.
On April 10, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh National Parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated that America has the capability to change the power of any country if they desire.
“They can overthrow the government in any country, particularly Muslim countries. As long as they were controlling over Islamic countries, nothing happened. However, after the Russia-Ukraine war, the entire world is now in the grip of economic recession. This is the reality,” she added.
After such a comment, seven to eight hours later, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington.
On April 8, Sajeeb Wazed Joy on his verified Facebook wrote, “US State legislature votes to expel two minority lawmakers, while keeping a third who was white. This is the state of democracy in the US. The US State Department are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites”.
During the Blinken-Momen meeting, the Secretary of State gave emphasis on the upcoming national election of Bangladesh, hoping to be a role model.
“We are looking – the world is looking – to Bangladesh for its next elections, to make sure that they set a strong example for free and fair elections for the region and for the world,” Blinken said at the bilateral meeting in Washington DC on April 10.
About the US expectation of fair election, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said that Foreign Ministry has repeatedly told the US that the Election Commission of Bangladesh is an independent and constitutional body to hold a free, fair and credible election.
In reply to a query of RAB’s sanction, Seheli Sabrin said that both Bangladesh and US are working on the issue.
“The discussion to withdraw the sanctions on RAB is still continuing with the US. We hope they will expedite the process,” she said.
About the Digital Security Act, she said, “There are various recommendations from different quarters. If the lawmakers think that it needs amendment, they will do it”.
About the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), she said that Bangladesh is continuing its efforts to get the GSP and the government of Bangladesh is working with the guidelines of International Labour Organisation to maintain the work environment and labour rights.