Bangladesh
Bangladesh United States wants to increase security and trade assistance to Bangladesh
Dhaka, 9 June 2023 : The United States has expressed its interest in increasing cooperative relations with Bangladesh on various issues including security and trade.
Vedanta Patel, the chief deputy spokesperson of the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted this interest in a briefing on Wednesday.
The regular briefing of the US State Department was held in Washington on Wednesday.
In response to a question from reporters there, Biden administration official Vedanta Patel said, "Last year we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our bilateral relationship and in this year 2023, we want to take the US-Bangladesh relationship to a deeper and higher level."
In the briefing, Vedanta Patel said, "US has a cooperative relationship with Bangladesh in terms of security and bilateral trade."
"We want to take this relationship further and the United States is very serious about this. Earlier I have discussed this issue with some of your fellow journalists. The United States is interested in increasing cooperation with Bangladesh in various sectors including climate. But currently we are giving the most importance to security cooperation," he said.
4 months after Bangladesh gained independence on 16 December 1971, the United States recognized Bangladesh as an independent state on 4 April 1972.
In addition to recognition, Washington also provided $3 billion in aid at that time. The United States has been one of the main development partners of Bangladesh since independence. Since 1972, USAID, the country's government donor, has provided hundreds of US dollars in aid to Bangladesh.
The United States is also supporting Bangladesh's infrastructural development.
