The United States has recognized progress in last three months with regard to the activities of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), against which Washington slapped sanctions in December last year.

The US has not indicated the withdrawal of sanctions at least for the time being but agreed to work with Bangladesh on the matter.

The sanctions named several serving and former RAB officials.

“You know we have concerns about how the RAB has performed, about extrajudicial killing, about enforced disappearances. We have seen progress in the last three months in mitigating these,” US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told journalists after the eighth edition of Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue at the state guesthouse, Padma. 

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Nuland led their respective sides to the dialogue that took place after a pause of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.    

Describing the sanction issue as complicated and difficult, Under Secretary Nuland, flanked by Foreign Secretary Masud, said: “We look forward to working together on these things because our cooperation on security and counter-terrorism is very important to us.”

She also said that Washington would continue speaking out against human rights violations anywhere in the world.

The under secretary, the third highest ranking official at the US Department of State, said Dhaka had handed over a working plan in relation to RAB activity during the dialogue and the US intended to work with Bangladesh.

In this regard, Foreign Secretary Masud said that Bangladesh had given a diplomatic paper to the US side detailing the activity of RAB and the steps taken by the government recently.

“They will discuss it in Washington. We will continue discussions. This will be discussed in different formats. Hopefully, we will be able to resolve the issue in due time,” he said.

Masud also said: “We have raised deep concern about the recent US treasury sanctions imposed on RAB and related individuals, and not only explained how this might affect the efforts of Bangladesh government to combat terrorism and transnational crimes, but also elaborated how our government has been addressing the challenges.”

About the topics of discussion at the dialogue, the foreign secretary said: “We had a frank, elaborate and quite fruitful discussion today on the whole gamut of the bilateral relations between our two countries, encompassing political, economic and security domains.

“This partnership dialogue is indeed the first one with the Biden Administration, and also the first among a series of dialogues scheduled in coming months. Thus, Bangladesh is considering today’s discussion as the beginning of a rejuvenated robust engagement with our US friends,” he said.

Bangladesh deeply values its multifaceted relations with the United States, which is based on shared liberal values of upholding democracy and human dignity, commitment towards maintaining international peace and security and aspiration for socio-economic development of people, said Masud.

“In fact, our political, economic, security and people-to-people relations are based on this ideological pivot. While we have discussed the areas of excellent mutual cooperation like Rohingya issue, COVID-19 vaccine support, US development assistance, capacity building in security sector etc., we have also exchanged views on areas of yet untapped potentials like exchange of high-level visits, investment, trade facilitation, connectivity, stronger defence and security cooperation etc,” he said.

The foreign secretary said: “Finally, I would say, and in fact this is what we have told to our US colleagues today, that Bangladesh has high expectations from the Biden Administration in terms of building a comprehensive partnership. Bangladesh will remain keen in this regard, with the view to work closely with the US in our journey together towards peace and prosperity.”

According to the Foreign Ministry, the two governments at the dialogue reaffirmed their commitment to enduring partnership, highlighting close cooperation on security, development, humanitarian assistance, and counterterrorism.

Both sides agreed to continue to cooperate closely to advance a shared vision of a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and secure Indo-Pacific region. In this regard, Foreign Secretary Masud underscored the need for having economic component in the IPS. In response, the US side informed that an economic framework of the IPS would be released soon. They also exchanged ideas on important issues of bilateral, regional, and global interest and concern, including the current situation in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

Dhaka and Washington also discussed on other human rights and labour rights related issues. Bangladesh delegation also raised the issue of the deportation of Rashed Chowdhury, the convicted killer the Father of the Nation. 

Discussion on the issue of repatriation of forcibly displaced Rohingyas also took place. The Bangladesh side deeply appreciated the strong political and humanitarian support of the US on the Rohingya issue, and underscored Bangladesh’s priority on the repatriation of the displaced Rohingysa as soon as possible. Under Secretary Nuland assured of US’s continued political and humanitarian support for the Rohingya crisis.

Both sides expressed interest in bolstering security and defence cooperation, as well as maritime cooperation.