Bangladesh’s interim government has exuded confidence that the country’s relations with United States will see no significant changes under Donald Trump when the president-elect assumes power in Washington early next year.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said Bangladesh-US ties do not solely depend on the party in power in Washington and also pointed out that Trump has so far not said anything about whether he would have a “good or bad relaionship” with Dhaka.
“We don’t need to split our positions on this matter. Let’s wait for two to three months. There’s still time; he will take office after two months,” he said, replying to a question on Thursday, Dhaka Tribune reported.
“After Donald Trump assumes office, we will see what steps he takes, and based on that, we will act… He hasn’t said anything about whether he will have a good or bad relationship with Bangladesh; he hasn’t mentioned anything,” he further said, as Trump would take charge of the presidency on January 20 as per US rules.
His return to power triggered a lot of speculation as Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government in Bangladesh, is a close friend of Trump’s rival Democratic party.
However, the chief adviser’s office stated that Dr. Yunus has connections in both Republican and Democratic parties. The Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris lost to Trump in the recent presidential polls.
“The discussions and negotiations we were having with the (outgoing president Joe) Biden administration are not drastically different from those we had with the previous Trump administration. Therefore, it would not be accurate to say that there will be a significant change in relations between the Trump and Biden administrations regarding Bangladesh; I don’t believe that at all,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs Adviser said, “I will observe, and we will try to communicate. Then we will see what happens.” UNI ARN SSP
