US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu has arrived in Dhaka on a three-day visit. The plane carrying him arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday (14 May). This is his first visit as a senior official of the US State Department after the 12th National Assembly elections last January.

Assistant US Secretary of State Donald Lu will attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F. Rahman on the first day of his visit to Dhaka. On Wednesday, the second day of the visit, he will first hold bilateral talks with Environment, Forest and Climate Change Affairs Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury and later with Foreign Secretary Masood Bin Momen. Later he will pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud. During his three-day visit to Dhaka, Donald Lu is also scheduled to hold discussions with civil society representatives.

According to diplomatic sources in Dhaka, President Joe Biden sent a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last February. There he clarified the US’s views on relations with Bangladesh. At the beginning of that letter, Biden used the words ‘the beginning of the next chapter of the US-Bangladesh partnership’; From which it is clear that the United States is now focusing on advancing relations with Bangladesh.

and regional and global security as a priority in partnership; economic development; Climate Change and Energy; global health; Issues such as humanitarian aid, particularly the Rohingya refugee problem, are mentioned. Therefore, when Donald Lu comes to Dhaka, there will be an idea that the United States will give priority to these issues as well as other issues.