Shawdesh Desk:

The United States has said they are in touch with their Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events in Bangladesh.

‘On the topic of Bangladesh, we have been in touch with our Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events,’ said principal deputy spokesperson at the United States Department of State Vedant Patel.

He said that they continued to push for an end to violence in Bangladesh as well as continue to push for accountability and the respect for rule of law.

‘I’m not going to get into private diplomatic discussions,’ Patel said during a regular briefing in Washington on August 14.

Responding to a question, he said that they engaged with partners in Congress regularly. ‘I’m not going to get into specific letters or engagements.’

But he said that they welcomed interim government chief adviser Yunus’s call for calm and an end to the recent violence — of the new — and as well as they welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and the protection of members of minority communities as well.

Meanwhile, US charge d’affaires Helen LaFave met with foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday at his office, where she affirmed the US government’s willingness to work closely with the interim government of Bangladesh.

Underlining the priorities of the current government, the adviser emphasised that the government would hold elections to transfer power to the elected representatives as soon as the reforms that the students and the people of Bangladesh envisaged are complete.

Important bilateral matters were also discussed during the meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.