The new US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai
Biswal is coming to Bangladesh next week after her visit to Japan.
It will be her first visit to the country after she became the first
official of South Asian origin to hold such a high position in the US
State Department.
She replaced Robert Blake on Oct 21.
Her visit to Bangladesh comes in the background of rising political
violence over forming the country’s interim government to run the
polls.
The US has been urging the two major parties –ruling Awami League and
opposition BNP – for a dialogue for resolving the crisis.
According to the US state department, Biswal will discuss shared
global, regional, and bilateral priorities with the government,
opposition, labour, and civil society leaders.
The US GSP issue and the state of the ready-made garment industries
are likely to figure in her discussions, besides the key issue of
political transition.
The State Department has not disclosed any specific date of her
arrival in Dhaka.
It said she was visiting Tokyo from Nov 12 for the fifth
US-India-Japan trilateral consultation.
The State Department said she will “make her first bilateral visit to
Bangladesh soon after wrapping up her current tour of Tokyo” without
providing a date for the visit.
But a foreign ministry official told journalists that she was
expected to arrive in Dhaka on Nov 16.
A meeting with the Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has been scheduled on Nov 17.
She is expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the Leader
of the Opposition Khaleda Zia.
She will also meet labour groups and civil society representatives,
apart from meeting government officials, and political leaders.
According to the US state department, Biswal served from Sept 2010 as
Assistant Administrator for Asia at USAID.
She oversaw $1.2 billion in assistance to 22 countries from Central
Asia to the Pacific Islands and managed a bureau and overseas staff of
over 1200 development professionals.
She also worked for the House Appropriations Committee Foreign
Operations Subcommittee (HACFO) In the House of Representatives, and
as professional staff in the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC),
where she was responsible for South Asia. -bdnews.com
