State Department Official: US Seeks Closer Military Ties with Bangladesh

Benar News

Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Dhaka
2019-11-05

Alice Wells, U.S. acting assistant secretary of state, (right) meets with Bangladeshi officials, including Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan (left) in Dhaka, as American Ambassador Earl Miller looks on, Nov. 5, 2019. [Courtesy of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Home Affairs 

The United States is seeking an expanded military relationship with Bangladesh under a security initiative that would help Dhaka build its maritime and border security capacity, Alice Wells, the U.S. acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, said here on Tuesday.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative, a new U.S. State Department program, involves foreign military financing that would build maritime and border security capacity for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives.