Two high-ranking US Department of State officials are scheduled to travel to Bangladesh in mid-April, each leading separate delegations. While in Dhaka, various topics are anticipated to be on the agenda, including current reform initiatives, the democratic transition in Bangladesh, the Rohingya crisis, and recent developments in Myanmar.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Washington indicate that Nicole Chulick, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA), will arrive in Dhaka on April 15 for a four-day visit.
Andrew R. Herrup, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will arrive on April 16. Susan Stevenson, the United States chargé d’affaires to Myanmar, will join Herrup on his upcoming visit to Bangladesh.
The upcoming visit marks the inaugural high-level delegation from the United States to Bangladesh since Donald Trump took office as President on January 20.
Diplomatic sources indicate that Nicole Chulick is expected to engage with senior officials of the interim government to address the ongoing reform process, with a particular focus on the nation’s transition to democracy. She anticipates investigating methods through which the United States can assist in the transition process occurring in Bangladesh.
She is expected to engage with leaders from various political parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as representatives from civil society.
During Andrew Herrup’s upcoming visit, the focus will be on the pressing issues concerning the Rohingya and Myanmar. A senior official from the foreign ministry informed Prothom Alo that the ongoing fluctuations in Myanmar are viewed as a significant obstacle to the US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS).
The Myanmar junta’s grip on the country appears tenuous, with authority primarily confined to select regions. The nation is grappling with not only the Rohingya crisis. Still, it has also emerged as a significant hub for drug and arms trafficking, alongside alarming rates of kidnapping and human trafficking, particularly affecting women and children.
“Andrew Herrup’s trip to Dhaka will encompass the entire situation,” he remarked.
