BD-US partnership dialogue begins Wednesday

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Nazmul Ahsan
The maiden two-day meeting under the Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue will begin in Washington Wednesday next to bolster bilateral and regional cooperation between the two countries, diplomatic sources have said. Issues like trade, security, counter-terrorism, democracy and good governance are some of the priorities the US is expected to put on the negotiation table, in contrary to Bangladesh's interest in enhanced US investment and the duty-free and quota-free export facility for apparels, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has said.
Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes will lead the 10-member Bangladesh delegation at the discussion and the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy R Sherman, will lead the other side.
Representatives from ministries of commerce, energy, home, Economic Relations Division, Board of Investment, Armed Forces Division and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have been included in the Bangladesh delegation.
Dhaka and Washington earlier signed a joint declaration on the Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue on May 5 last during the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Dhaka.
The declaration was aimed at deepening the current partnership in addressing bilateral, regional and global issues, which interest both the countries.
However, diplomats at the MoFA said the government was not interested in signing the much-talked-about Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa), provided the US does not soften its stance on the labour issue.
"The US may seek to know our intention during the upcoming Partnership meeting relating to signing the Ticfa. But, we are undone since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not give us the go-ahead in this regard," a top MoFA official told the FE on Saturday.
The diplomats were a bit worried over the possible grilling by US officials at the meeting over the recent murder of Aminul Islam, a trade union leader in the country's ready-made garment (RMG) industry.
"We are prepared to address the obvious question on Aminul to be raised from our counterpart," a senior diplomat said.
Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes could not be contacted for his version on the entire gamut of the forthcoming meeting in Washington.
A senior diplomat hinted that an agreement on the security issue might be signed between Bangladesh and the US during the two-day meeting in Washington. He, however, declined to elaborate on the proposed deal.
The next meeting would be held in Dhaka in September next year, officials concerned said.
Issues like human rights, inclusion and resilience of Bangladesh society, maintaining a robust civil society, democracy, women's empowerment, Grameen Bank, role of media etc will be discussed in the meeting, it has been learnt.
Besides, militaries of the two countries will hold a technical level meeting scheduled to be held in Hawaii on September 26-27 to discuss peacekeeping and peace-building initiatives.