Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the US to put pressure on Myanmar to stop pushing its Rohingya nationals into Bangladesh, UNB reported.
“We have given shelter to a huge number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds, and it is a big problem for us. So I call upon you to exert pressure on Myanmar in this regard,” she said during a meeting with Alice Wells, US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, at her office on Wednesday.
Ihsanul Karim, press secretary of the prime minister, briefed reporters after the meeting.
At the meeting, Wells asked the prime minister whether there had been any political dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar on resolving the Rohingya issue.
In reply, the prime minister said said: “Our foreign office is in contact with the Myanmar authorities.”
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Wells, also US acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed the US interest to work with Bangladesh to combat terrorism and highly appreciated Bangladesh government’s initiatives for curbing the menace.
Reiterating Bangladesh’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism, Hasina said: “We will not allow anyone to use our land for plotting terrorist acts in other countries.”
The US acting assistant secretary highly appreciated Bangladesh’s massive socioeconomic development in different sectors, especially the 7.24% GDP growth achieved last fiscal year.
Hasina said the main aim of her government was to strengthen the rural economy.
About the bilateral trade with the US, she said the volume of trade between the two countries increased manifolds from only $25 million in 1996.
Wells pointed out that the economic relations between the two countries had developed significantly and mentioned that the US is the largest market for Bangladeshi RMG products.
Prime Minister Hasina’s International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi, Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and the US charge d’affaires in Dhaka were present at the meeting as well.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
