Washington values its relationship with Dhaka: State Dept

US State Department seal. Wikimedia Commons.

Dhaka, Sept 29 - The United States has said it expects that the government of Bangladesh will take all necessary actions to maintain the safety and security of all foreign missions and personnel in the country, including those from the US.

"The United States values its relationship with Bangladesh," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday, September 28.

He, however, said he is not going to discuss specific details around security at the U.S. embassy or the personnel that work in Bangladesh.

"I will say that of course the safety and security of our diplomatic personnel is of the utmost importance to us. And as per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, every host country must uphold its obligations to ensure the protection of all diplomatic mission premises and take all diplomatic steps to prevent any attack on personnel," Miller said while responding to a question.

Asked about US Embassy's remarks on visa restrictions on media, Miller again refrained from mentioning media.

"I’m not going to announce specific steps, preview steps that we might take from the podium," he said.

The Spokesperson said they have taken steps to impose restrictions under the Secretary’s authority against members of law enforcement, the ruling party, and the political opposition who we believe to be responsible for or complicit in undermining free and fair elections in Bangladesh.

"And as we made clear when we announced this policy on May 24th – that’s when we announced the policy, not the imposition of sanctions on specific individuals – but when we announced that policy, that it could be applied to any Bangladeshi individual who we believe was responsible for or complicit in undermining the democratic process," Miller said.

"So we retain the option to impose sanctions on other individuals if and when we believe it’s appropriate," he added. - UNB