Bangladesh, USA agree to boost cooperation in civil and military domain

Bangladesh and the United States of America in the ninth Security Dialogue have agreed to strengthen cooperation in both civil and military security domains.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement on Tuesday (September 5) said the dialogue covered various traditional and non-traditional security issues of mutual interests, including Indo-Pacific outlook of Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the USA.

Upcoming national elections, security assistance, defense trade and cooperation, checking terrorism and violent extremism and transnational crimes and fostering broader and regional security are among the issues discussed in the dialogue, the statement said.

Climate change and energy security are among the non-traditional security issues discussed in the meeting.

Director General of North America Wing of the MoFA Khandker Masudul Alam and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the US State Department Mira Resnick led their respective delegation in the dialogue.

In the dialogue, Bangladesh reiterated its stated position of ‘zero-tolerance’ against any form of terrorism, and emphasized on continued cooperation to combat terrorism and violent extremism while the meeting noted security cooperation as a key component in bilateral relations.

The US side reiterated its support to the armed forces and law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh in enhancing their capacity through various forms of trainings, sharing of information and joint exercises.

The US side responded affirmatively to Bangladesh’s call for working together in the maritime security.

Bangladesh reiterated that repatriation of Rohingyas is the ultimate solution to the protracted Rohingya crisis and sought greater international support to resolve the problem.

The US side appreciated Bangladesh for hosting more than one million Rohingyas and assured to remain beside Bangladesh in extending humanitarian assistance to the displaced people of Myanmar. 

Representatives of key ministries and agencies of Bangladesh as well as the US government and the US embassy in Dhaka participated in the dialogue.