Kerry coming to Dhaka to take relationship to next level

US Secretary of State John Kerry is coming to Dhaka with a strong intention to lift the relationship to the next level, not only for the current administration but for the next government in Washington. “We have a very strong partnership and what’s the next level. He is coming here, [it] is not only about our current administration but bridging to the next,” US Ambassador to Dhaka Marcia Bernicat said. She was talking with journalists after a meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque Wednesday. John Kerry is coming to Dhaka on August 29 on a one-day visit to highlight the longstanding and broad Bangladesh-US relationship. He will focus on strengthening the bilateral partnership on democracy, development, security and human rights. Bernicat said the leadership of the two countries meet and exchange their views on a regular basis. “Our leadership meets and talks about this, that happens on regular basis. It happened in G-7, it happened in New York,” she said. About the current bilateral relationship, Bernicat said in her view it is strategic but she empahsised on partnership aspect. “I want to emphasise the partnership part because it’s not one-way relationship,” she said. She said both the countries can contribute positively, together or separately, in a way that supports each other. About the strategic relationship, she said: “I know that the strategic level involves different level of talks and everything, but when we talk about security and trade, we are not just talking about today or what Bangladesh and US can do together. We are also talking about things like what will be Bangladesh’s role in the region.” Praising the peacekeeping operations of Bangladesh, she said: “You put your people, your skilled military and police on the line everyday to keep peace around the world. So, we talk about how to expand that, how to play that role, that’s strategic.”