Bangladesh and the United States on Thursday agreed to strengthen cooperation on counterterrorism and civilian security issues, noting that security cooperation was a key component in bilateral relations between the two countries.
The issues came up for discussion at the 7th Bangladesh-US Security Dialogue held in Dhaka, reports UNB.
Ferdousi Shahriar, director general of Americas Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of the Political Military Affairs at the US State Department Michael F Miller led their respective delegations in the dialogue.
At the dialogue, Bangladesh requested the US to send back Rashed Chowdhury—a convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—to face justice.
The US delegation reiterated its support to the armed forces and law enforcement of Bangladesh in enhancing capacity through various forms of training, sharing of information, providing sophisticated equipment, and joint exercises.
The two sides also discussed the issue of reintroducing a Bangladesh Biman flight between Dhaka and New York.
Bangladesh reiterated its stated position of "zero-tolerance" against all forms of terrorism.
The delegations identified information and data sharing as a "very vital area of cooperation" in apprehending terrorists and preventing crimes at the dialogue.
Key issues discussed at the event included peacekeeping with reference to Bangladesh's role and involvement in building peacekeeping capacity; military-to-military cooperation; security assistance; defence trade; counterterrorism; countering violent extremism; border and regional issues with reference to the ongoing Rohingya crisis; vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region; human security; and border issues.
The US side lauded Bangladesh's role as a troop-contributing nation to the United Nations (UN) and the availability of required training facilities in the country for preparing peacekeepers for missions anywhere in the world.
The Bangladeshi delegation noted that they were on the verge of fulfilling the UN requirement of 15% female peacekeepers.
The meeting also had a brief overview of the traditional and non-traditional security concerns facing both countries in the region.
The Rohingya issue was identified as a threat multiplier in regional and global contexts and the US delegation assured to stand beside Bangladesh in executing a sustainable and dignified return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar.
Washington responded affirmatively to Dhaka's call for working together in the maritime domain on security matters.
Both countries agreed to work together on multiple aspects of non-traditional security (NTS) in the future.
