Visiting US Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain on Wednesday highly lauded religious harmony and freedom in Bangladesh.
"We are very encouraged to see people from different faith groups who are living together peacefully in Bangladesh," he told reporters emerging from the meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the Foreign Ministry.
The envoy said that the quarters who were trying to divide and create complications among people of different religions must be stopped. "We must continue to live together peacefully," he added.
Hussain said that Washington wanted to see religious freedom everywhere across the world.
Later, Alam told reporters that he had briefed the visiting US ambassador about the true picture of religious harmony in the country and the Bangladesh government's commitment to upholding it.
The state minister said that everyone in the country enjoys equal citizen rights and Bangladesh does not term anybody a religious minority.
Alam also noted that some vested quarters had instigated attacks on the Buddhist community and vandalized some Hindu temples on a few occasions by utilizing social media with fake Facebook IDs.
The state minister said the Bangladesh government had taken all possible actions sincerely to address the issues and support the affected Hindu and Buddhist communities.
The US ambassador-at-large appreciated the Bangladesh government's initiative to address these challenges, he added.
"We have agreed that Bangladesh and the US will work together to maintain religious harmony in the days to come," Alam said.
They also discussed the Rohingya issue when the state minister hoped that the US' recent stand against atrocities committed against the Rohingyas would support the Gambia's case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice.
Hussain arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a four-day visit to hold a series of meetings with Bangladesh officials.
