Hopeful about future relations with Bangladesh: US Counselor Chollet

Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet has said that US is "hopeful" about future relations with Bangladesh – building on the strong partnership that has developed over 51 years.

"We are hopeful for the future. 51 years is very strong partnership. We are looking forward to the next 51 years and beyond. We have many shared challenges but we have many more common opportunities that we discussed today," Chollet told reporters after his meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bangladesh has seen a series of visits by senior US officials in recent months with the last by US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu.

The US State Department counselor said that the US places considerable importance on its relationship with Bangladesh which is growing stronger.

On the Rohingya issue, he said they are continuously working and trying to help Bangladesh, and also trying to deal with the root causes of conflict in Myanmar.

Talking to reporters, Foreign Minister Momen said Bangladesh is happy to receive US diplomats. "We are looking forward to better days," he said.

Momen said, America is our biggest investor. We want to go even further ahead. We have requested the US to invest in our 100 economic zones. We will be very happy if they invest."

"We talked about the Rohingyas. They have been helping us since day one. They are our greatest contributor.

"They agree with us on improving the living conditions of the Rohingyas. And they will work with us," he added.

Chollet and his delegation members met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban in the morning.

He met senior officials in Bangladesh to discuss "coordination and response" to the Rohingya refugee crisis, strengthening cooperation in international fora, and advancing the "security partnership" between Dhaka and Washington.

The US sees a "huge potential" in relationship with Bangladesh and a lot of "room to grow", he added.

"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Myanmar which is only getting worse," Chollet said before his arrival in Dhaka.

The US State Department counselor said they are doing everything they can to cooperate with Bangladesh and ease the pressure on the country from the refugee crisis by providing critical assistance to support its humanitarian needs.

The counselor serves at the rank of under-secretary as a senior policy advisor to the US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken on a wide range of issues and conducts special diplomatic assignments as directed by him.