Shawdesh Desk:

United States ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas held a meeting with foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen at State Guesthouse Padma on Thursday.

The meeting began at about 11:00am. Issues being discussed at the meeting could not be known immediately.

Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC has said that the political context of the US Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labour Standards Globally has many reasons ‘to be alarmed.’

‘Politics is behind what is said about labour rights in the memorandum, and the US would try to use the political purpose in different ways,’ said the embassy in a letter based on observation it made on the recently launched US initiative.

The US Presidential Memorandum was rolled out on November 16.

The United States said that it would work to ‘hold accountable those who threaten, intimidate, attack union leaders, labour rights defenders, labour organisations — including using things like sanctions, trade penalties and visa restrictions’ — all the tools in their kit.

The ‘memorandum’ is a signal for Bangladesh as the US may take any measure as described in it with the excuse of labour issues, the letter from Bangladesh embassy in Washington, seen by UNB, reads. ‘The memorandum may also have an impact on Bangladesh’s apparel sector, and it should be taken into cognizance with priority by the concerned stakeholders,’ it said.