Dhaka: Bangladesh will be on the side of United States-Secretariat to fight terrorism, said this after the meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, US Assistant Minister of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal. And the interior minister said that they are reviewing the proposal given by the United States to deal with the militants.
Along with Bangladesh, the United States is also concerned about the attack on the elite restaurant Holy Artisan in Gulshan on July 1, killing 20 people, including 17 foreigners. Nisha Desai came to Dhaka on a two-day visit to discuss cooperation between the two countries to combat terrorism. On the first day, he held a meeting with the Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary in Bangladesh. On the second day, the US Assistant Secretary held a meeting with civil society members, diplomats, the Prime Minister's Foreign and Security Adviser and the Home Secretary. Later he went to Ganobhaban to meet with the Prime Minister.
After the meeting with the Home Minister at the Secretariat, Nisha Desai told the media workers, 'United States-Bangladesh will work together to fight terrorism. The United States is ready to provide any kind of cooperation'. Nisha also said that her country can help Bangladesh with investigative information.
Later, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, 'United States-Bangladesh has excellent relations. Nisha told us that they will give us full support to fight the terrorists. We also said, we will all work together.
Earlier in the afternoon, Nisha Desai held a meeting with Prime Minister's Security Adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique. The meeting started at 12:15 PM at the Prime Minister's office. US Ambassador to Dhaka Marsha Bloom Barnicutt and Acting High Commissioner of UK Mark Clayton were present in the meeting. Besides, the Prime Minister's Advisor on International Relations held a meeting with Gauhar Rizvi. However, the media was not informed about the agenda of these meetings.
In the morning, US Ambassador Stephen Marsha Blum began his day's program with a meeting with the three ambassadors at the residence of Barnicutt.
From there, Nisha Desai went to visit Holy Artisan Restaurant. Besides visiting the restaurant, he paid tribute to the victims.
