Bangladesh and the US have agreed to enhance cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism through capacity enhancement.
The agreement came on the first day of the fifth Partnership Dialogue between the two countries which began at the US Department of State in Washington, DC on Thursday.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune from Washington over phone: “It is a global problem and we agreed to combat it jointly.”
On the first day of the two-day dialogue, the three working groups on 'Security Cooperation', ‘Development and Governance Cooperation’, and ‘Trade and Investment Cooperation’ held in-depth discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
A press release of the Foreign Ministry said the US delegation highly appreciated the valuable contribution made by Bangladesh for almost three decades to UN peacekeeping operations.
The Bangladesh delegation was also appreciative of the support of USAID over the last four decades and a half for the socio-economic development in the country in a variety of areas, including agriculture, higher education, climate change and health.
The two delegations underscored the need for continued and wider cooperation in existing and new areas.
The US delegation praised Bangladesh for hosting a large number of undocumented Myanmar nationals in the country for decades.
Both the delegations also agreed to encourage the Bangladeshi diaspora to invest in potential sectors of Bangladesh and thus contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.
The US delegation expressed interest in supporting regional connectivity initiatives, particularly in the sector of energy under IPEC, and blue economy.
The two delegations discussed the achievements of Bangladesh in addressing issues in the readymade garment sector and agreed to continue the multi-stakeholder cooperative mechanism in this regard.
The delegations also agreed to continue discussions in the areas of trade and investment.
Meanwhile, the foreign secretary made a presentation titled ‘Bangladesh by 2030/35: Challenges and Prospects’ at the Council on Foreign Relations, a reputed think tank, in Washington on Thursday afternoon.
The event was participated by a good number of US researchers, scholars and policy thought leaders, who engaged with the foreign secretary in an enlightening interaction.
In his presentation, the foreign secretary projected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of Bangladesh to become a middle-income country by 2021, and a developed country two decades from then.
He focused, among other issues, on the great prospects of trade and investment, strength of Bangladesh economy, deeper connectivity, challenges of climate change, and a strategic vision of a developed Bangladesh in 2030/35 which will have the intrinsic values of democracy, secularism, pluralism and liberalism.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
