PM urges US to put pressure on Myanmar

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the United States to put pressure on Myanmar to stop pushing-in Rohingya nationals to Bangladesh as US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells paid a courtesy call on the premier at her office on Wednesday.

“We have given shelter to a huge number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds and it’s a big problem for us ... So I call upon you to mount pressure on Myanmar in this regard,” PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted the premier as saying while briefing reporters after the meeting.

The press secretary said the US assistant secretary of state wanted to know from the prime minister whether there is any political dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar on resolving Rohingya problem.

In reply, the prime minister said: “Our foreign office is in contact with the Myanmar authorities.”

Wells, also acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed the US’s interest to work with Bangladesh to combat terrorism and highly appreciated Bangladesh government’s initiatives for curbing terrorism.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina reiterated Bangladesh “zero tolerance policy against terrorism. “We won’t allow our land to be used for carrying out terrorist acts in other countries,” she said.

Source: BSS