US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun arrived in the capital on Wednesday afternoon on a three-day visit.
He is scheduled to meet State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam over a dinner hosted by the state minister on Wednesday evening.
Biegun, who has been the key figure in President Trump’s negotiations with the North Korea, will meet Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday morning.
He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban at 12:00 pm.
The visit is seen as a sign of Trump administration's desire to draw Bangladesh closer as a key Indo-Pacific partner.
This is the first visit of a senior US diplomat of this stature since the visit of Secretary of State John Kerry in August 2016.
The deputy secretary’s engagements in Bangladesh will focus on "advancing the common vision of a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and secure Indo-Pacific region" with shared prosperity for all, according to the Office of the Spokesperson at the US Department of State.
Asked about Bangladesh’s stance on the US led Indo Pacific Strategy, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the FE recently that the IPS would be effective for the country if it gets US investments in infrastructure building under the strategy.
"We have no objection to the Indo Pacific strategy. But they should come forward to the infrastructure development if they want to make the IPS more effective".
"They have to spend money, only talking will not do, they have to invest," the minister said pointing out that the US has no contribution to Bangladesh's infrastructure development.
"They can do it if they want," he said defending his argument.
Asked about the possible agenda, the minister admitted that IPS will be a major focus in the talks between Bangladeshi officials and Mr Biegun.
He also made it clear that Bangladesh is not interested in involved in defence related issues under the IPS.
However, issues related to Rohingya, visa and Covid cooperation will also come up, he added.
"We'll discuss the Rohingya issue and we will make it clear that we are not interested in only humanitarian assistance, our main goal is repatriation, they must go back to that country," the minister said.
Dr Momen criticised the USA for not issuing visas to some Bangladeshi students, who secured I-20 from American institutions.
"They have not issued visas to Bangladeshi students who got I-20, but students of the neighbouring countries like India and Pakistan got the same category visas. This is discriminatory," he noted.
This is very discriminatory because Bangladesh's condition is better than other nations in terms of Covid control, impact is much lesser in the country, he argued.
"Still, they did not issue visas to our students, this is not good," he said.
"We also want support for our garment sector, which was affected by Covid," the minister said.
For example, the US can offer the garments sector three years' moratorium on duty to enable the country to absorb the shock from Covid, he added.
