Two senior Trump officials arriving in Dhaka today
US President Donald Trump's Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Nicole N. Chulik, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for East and Pacific Affairs, Andrew Herrap, are arriving in Dhaka today (Wednesday) on a three-day visit. This is going to be the first visit of a senior US delegation to Dhaka after Trump took office.
According to sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nicole N. Chulik, of the two US Deputy Assistant Secretaries, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka this morning. Andrew Herrap and US Chargé d'Affaires in Myanmar, Susan Stevenson, will then arrive in Dhaka on separate flights.
The US delegation will start the first day of the visit by talking to US embassy officials about the situation in Bangladesh. After that, they are scheduled to hold exchanges of views with leaders of various political parties including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami and representatives of civil society.
On the second day of the visit, the US delegation will meet with the National Security Advisor of the interim government and the High Representative for the Rohingya issue and priority issues, Khalilur Rahman, and the Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Towhid Hossain. Although the US delegation has been requested to meet with the Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, it has not been finalized yet. However, the US delegation may eventually meet the head of government.
Regarding the agenda of the US delegation's visit, diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Washington say that during the meetings, Dhaka may seek US assistance in the overall situation in Myanmar, including the Rohingya issue, in which both sides may want to know their respective positions on the country in view of regional security. In addition, Trump's officials may put the current nature of India's relationship with Bangladesh and its closeness to China on the table for discussion, including the return of illegal immigrants and geopolitics.
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