US Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Afreen Akhter, is likely to be in Dhaka on Saturday (February 24) - to take relations with Bangladesh forward.
This is going to be the first visit by any US official after the January 7 national election.
Apart from bilateral issues and other areas of mutual interests, including economic growth and development, the Rohingya issue may also come up for discussion, according to a diplomatic source.
Afreen visited Bangladesh before the national election. She is likely to meet senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At a media briefing on February 14, she said, "We have a tremendous amount of work ongoing developing free media in Bangladesh, working with civil society, working with labor organizers across the spectrum to build up these institutions of democracy that will enable Bangladesh to become more democratic over the longer term."
Afreen visited Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar in October 16-17 last year and met with senior government officials, civil society members, Rohingya refugees, and representatives from humanitarian organizations.
