Washington, D.C., July 24, 2018:

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali, M.P. had a bilateral meeting with Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan Tuesday at the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. Deputy Secretary Sullivan profusely thanked Bangladesh for its role in addressing the Rohingya crisis as he greeted Foreign Minister Ali.

The Foreign Minister is currently visiting Washington, D.C. at the invitation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to lead the Bangladesh delegation at the first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. The State Department is hosting the high-level global meeting on religious freedom on July 25-26. In today’s meeting, the two leaders discussed the Rohingya crisis at great length.

Foreign Minister Ali conveyed sincere thanks and appreciation of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, to the U.S. President, Donald Trump, and his administration, for the strong and consistent humanitarian and political support to Bangladesh in dealing with this massive humanitarian crisis. He urged the U.S. administration to remain engaged with Myanmar to ensure dignified, safe and sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas.  

Acknowledging the fact that it is a staggering burden on Bangladesh to host 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar, Deputy Secretary Sullivan assured that the United States would continue to work with Myanmar government for their early repatriation.

Foreign Minister Ali urged Deputy Secretary Sullivan to continue pressure on Myanmar. In response, the Deputy Secretary said the United States would continue its pressure on Myanmar to create safe and secured conditions in Northern Rakhine for repatriation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh to their homes in Myanmar.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Ali requested the U.S. administration to return Rashed Chowdhury, a convicted killer of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to face justice. He said that the return of this convicted killer would create a tremendous amount of goodwill about the United States among the people of Bangladesh. In response, Deputy Secretary Sullivan stated that he is aware of the issue and the United States Department of Justice is dealing with this.

The Foreign Minister invited Deputy Secretary Sullivan and the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to visit Bangladesh at their earliest convenience.  

Earlier in the day, former Governor of New Mexico and former United States Energy Secretary, William Blaine Richardson III, met with Foreign Minister Ali at the Embassy of Bangladesh and exchanged views on issues of common interests and importance with particular focus on the Rohingya crisis.

Upon his arrival at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington D.C., Foreign Minister Ali placed floral wreath at the bust of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and stood in silence for one minute paying homage to Bangabandhu.