US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has shared the United States’ five key objectives for its relationship with Bangladesh to ensure a more peaceful and stable Bangladesh.
“We celebrate Bangladesh’s tangible and truly extraordinary economic achievements,” he said while addressing a “Meet the Ambassador” event organised by the Center for Governance Studies and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh Foundation here on Thursday (Sept 29).
Listing out the objectives, he said the goal number one is a more peaceful and stable Bangladesh, better able to provide for its own security, counter threats to US interests, and serve as a growing security contributor in the Indo-Pacific and globally.
He said the Prime Minister of Bangladesh last year shared her vision for a free, open, peaceful, secure and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, based on international law and shared prosperity for all.
Haas said US-Bangladeshi military cooperation plays a critical role in advancing that vision and the US military regularly works with the Bangladeshi military to strengthen Bangladesh’s defense readiness, to increase its ability to respond to humanitarian disasters, and to reinforce the partnership between the military forces.
Highlighting a recent event, he said Bangladesh and the United States co-hosted the 46th annual Indo-Pacific Army Management Seminar in Dhaka, which has provided a forum for senior level officers from regional land forces to exchange views and ideas on how to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. It also established the Bangladesh Army as a key regional leader.
“We want our security relationship to grow,” Ambassador Haas said adding “we are seeking to sign two foundational defense agreements – one which will allow our militaries to provide logistics support, supplies, and services to each other.”
The other will allow the militaries between Bangladesh and the US to share confidential information with each other – if they want to – in the knowledge that the other country will protect the information.
While stating the goal number two, the US envoy said Bangladesh is committed to democracy, transparency, pluralism, tolerance, good governance, and respect for human rights.
“Simply put, democracies tend to do a better job of protecting human rights and generating and sustaining prosperity than other governance regimes. The promotion of democracy is particularly relevant as Bangladesh looks toward the upcoming parliamentary elections.”
He once again made it very clear that the United States does not favor any particular political party in Bangladesh. “What we want is a free and fair election conducted in accordance with international standards where the people of Bangladesh can freely choose their own government.”
He said that ensuring free and fair elections is everyone’s responsibility. From the Election Commission to the government, from the media to law enforcement agencies, from civil society to political parties, everyone has an important role to play.
“If any one of them fails to fulfill their responsibility or if any one of them prevents another from fulfilling their responsibility, free and fair elections would become nearly impossible,” he added.
Referring to the recent violent clashes at political rallies and demonstrations here in Bangladesh, he said free and fair elections simply cannot take place in an environment with political violence.
“It is important for everyone – demonstrators, political parties, the government, and law enforcement – to respect the rule of law and to refrain from violence, harassment, and intimidation.”
The US Ambassador said the goal number three of the United States that Bangladesh is a socially and environmentally resilient country.
The ability to respond effectively to things like climate change and pandemics greatly impacts economic growth, he said adding that Bangladesh’s geography on a low-lying river delta, with a long coastline and large floodplains, makes it extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Ambassador Haas said the United States applauds Bangladesh’s leadership in addressing climate change and is a proud partner in addressing this problem. “Addressing climate change is a core priority for the Biden administration.”
In this regard, he mentioned that that in April 2021 the President released the first-ever US International Climate Finance Plan and announced a quadrupling of the U.S. international climate finance pledge at the UN General Assembly, including the largest US commitment ever made to reduce climate impacts on those most vulnerable to climate change worldwide.
Citing another example of US cooperation is the fight against COVID-19, he said the United States since 2020 has donated over $140 million in assistance and nearly 88 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh.
Mentioning about his recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Haas said he commended Bangladesh’s effort to vaccinate over 70 percent of its entire population, a higher rate than in the United States. “I also told her that one of our proudest joint achievements was in how we worked together to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.”
The US envoy identified the goal number four is Sustainable and broadly shared prosperity, and improved labor standards expand and diversify Bangladesh’s economy and opens it to greater regional and global trade and connectivity.
He said the United States celebrates Bangladesh’s tangible and truly extraordinary economic achievements and the US is proud to have partnered with Bangladesh during this journey by providing over $8 billion in assistance.
“In just the past 20 years, the number of people living below the national poverty line in this country has been cut in half. That is roughly 40 million people who have risen out of poverty,” he said adding “Bangladesh will soon graduate from Least Developed Country status and is progressing toward becoming a middle-income country.”
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent invitation to US companies to invest in Bangladesh, the Ambassador said many US businesses would like to expand in the region, and we are ready to help Bangladesh create a business climate that is as welcoming as possible to foreign investment.
He said the goal number five is Bangladesh meets international standards for humanitarian protection of the Rohingya refugees and continues to host them until a safe, voluntary, and dignified return to Burma is possible.
“We recently passed a sobering milestone: the five-year anniversary of the genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya and their flight from Burma to Bangladesh.”
During this time, he said Bangladesh has shown incredible generosity and compassion in welcoming them into the country and giving them shelter. We are aware of the financial burden this has imposed on Bangladesh.
In support of this incredible hospitality, the United States announced last week that it will provide an additional $170 million to support Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities. With this new funding, our total assistance to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis has reached nearly $1.9 billion.
Ambassador Haas said the US collaborated in this effort in the hope that Rohingya would soon be able to return to their native land in a safe and dignified manner.
“Unfortunately, conditions in Burma, especially after recent incidents, do not allow for a safe, voluntary, dignified, or sustainable return. Sadly, it does not look like they will any time soon,” he said adding “the United States is ready to work with Bangladesh to transition from an emergency response to a more sustainable one.”
“We want to work with the Government of Bangladesh and the rest of the international donor community to provide the refugees with better access to education, better opportunities to earn a livelihood, and greater security within the camps,” he added.