Bottom Line "Clinton's visit to Bangladesh: A long-waited one"

                              Barrister Harun Ur Rashid

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is to visit three Asian countriesChina, India and Bangladeshfrom May 3 and is scheduled reach Bangladesh May 5. The visit is a long-waited one and is to be welcomed.

The Secretary of State is no stranger to Bangladesh as she visited the country in 1996 as being the First Lady at the invitation of the Grameen Bank. Upon her return she wrote moving descriptions of her visit and encounters with the rural women here. She is popular among the people of Bangladesh because of her continued support for the country.

The US Ambassador Dan Mozena in early 2012 reportedly said at his maiden press conference at the American Club in Dhaka that his country was considering reaching a strategic partnership with Bangladesh during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Dhaka. "This is my goal, this is my dream," Washington considers Bangladesh 'a huge country' and an immensely important one, Mozena added, "Bangladesh is also a critical player for global security and food security."

Strategic partnership is based on long-term shared strategic vision, based on convergence of strategic interests, mutual trust, confidence in each other and respect for each others strategic sensitivities.

The relations reached its peak when President Clinton visited Bangladesh on March 20, 2000, for a day, the first ever visit by the US President and the visit re-energised bilateral relations on a new direction.

Bangladesh cannot remain outside the influence of the US. The presence of US multinationals in the country is visible. The Coca-Cola, KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's culture have reached us here and their television shows and Hollywood films have carried US values and aspirations into millions of homes.

Bangladesh-US relations are many-sided and cover almost all areas of bilateral relations. The regular contacts between the US administration and Bangladesh governments continue at various levels to grow in dimension and depth. Bilateral relationship is based on an understanding of each other's interests and benefits.

A centerpiece of the bilateral relationship is a US aid programme. However both the countries have recently given more emphasis on economic cooperation rather than on aid and assistance. The cooperation and assistance provided by US all these years and, in return; the support given by Bangladesh to the US, has greatly helped in cementing the bond between the two nations.

Last October, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni met the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and underscored the need of government's commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations.

This was the first foreign ministerial-level meeting since dissatisfaction was expressed by the US over removal of noble laureate Muhammad Yunus from the position of Managing Director of the Grameen Bank.

The US has already provided more than $5.8 billion over the years to Bangladesh. On April 9, USAID committed $40 million grant over the next five years to support the health sector development programme in Bangladesh.

On economic relations, the potentials are yet to be blossomed. The total investment by the US entrepreneurs is only $1 billion by February 2012 and it could be much higher.

During 2010-11, Bangladesh export earning from the US stood at US$ 4.59 billion constituting 25% of the total exports and imported from the US goods that was worth about $1.09 billion.

It has been recently reported that after a long delay and negotiations, the two countries are to sign the Trade Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) which will be a forum between US and Bangladesh on trade and investment.

The US policy towards Bangladesh as reported in 2009 by the then US Ambassador is based on the 'Three Ds'Democracy, Development and Denial of Space for Terrorism and continues to be so. Bangladesh agrees with the broad thrust of the policy as Bangladesh practices multi-party democracy and its foreign policy stands on two particular pillarssecurity and development.

Bangladesh government continues to take stern action against violent extremist organisations within the country and has adopted a zero tolerance towards terrorists. Laws have been enacted to prevent money-laundering. However, the local and overseas Human Rights Organisations expressed concerns on the "forced disappearances" of its nationals.

On April 19, both sides for the first time exchanged views on the ongoing engagement in the areas of:
* Counter-terrorism,
* Disaster management,
* Maritime security, and
* UN peacekeeping operations.

The US delegation was led by Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro while Bangladesh delegation was led by Additional Foreign Secretary.

Bangladesh may raise, among others, the following issues with the US Secretary of State:

* Bangladesh may get duty-free and quota-free access for its garment products into the US market as a LDC and currently has to pay US tariff of 15-30%, although the US offers duty free facilities to the Caribbean and African LDCs,

* Bangladesh needs to get assistance from US Millennium Fund (Millennium Challenge Account) so as to help achieve Millennium Development Goals,

* The US may increase the Official Development Assistance to reach the UN target of 0.7% of GDP as it has been amongst the lowest (in 2010, only 0.20% ) in terms of meeting the UN target,

* Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country due to global climate change and needs funds from the US for adaptation and mitigation programmes, and

* A convicted killer of Bangabandhu Lt. Col (retd) M. Rashed Chowdhury who has been living in the US is sent back to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh foreign minister sometime ago reportedly sent a letter through diplomatic channel to the Secretary of State to seek help to deport the killer to Bangladesh to meet justice.

The strength of relationship between Bangladesh and the US relies on the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances during the last forty years.

Finally on Bangladesh-US relationship, in January, the US Ambassador Mozena reportedly said: “America's partnership with Bangladesh is multifaceted [...] I have come to Bangladesh to further broaden, deepen and strengthen this partnership, and I commit myself to do everything that I can to this end.”

We all hope the visit of the US Secretary of State will be productive in concrete terms for the people of this country.

The writer is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva. 

The Daily Star, 05 May 2012