A counter-terrorism team comprised of officials from the United States Department of State Counter-terrorism Bureau and the South and Central Asia Bureau will visit Dhaka on January 9-12.
“They will meet policy level officials of the home, foreign affairs, post and telecommunications and ICT, and civil aviation ministries, as well with police and RAB officials,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry.
Bangladesh and the United States currently share intelligence with each to combat violent extremism.
Washington also provides training to the Bangladesh police. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting the Detective Branch and Criminal Investigation Department in investigating the murder of blogger Avijit Roy.
“Bangladesh wants to sign an agreement with US on this issue. Many people spread religious propaganda through Facebook and carry out character assassinations of various people on the internet. We want to stop this,” he said.
After the recent blocking of social media platform Facebook, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat met State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim and said the US wants to work with Bangladesh on this issue.
Afterwards, Tarana told the press that Bangladesh is interested in signing a general agreement on cybersecurity with the US so that if a cybercrime occurs through Facebook or Google it can easily be resolved.
Both multinational companies are US-based and Bangladesh does not have any agreement with them. A separate US Senate delegation is scheduled to visit Dhaka in the first week of January.
Both teams are expected to discuss Bangladesh’s labour standards and the country’s security and political situation.
