Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said yesterday that the United States (US) government has proposed to the Bangladesh government purchase of military hardware from them. “The US ambassador to Bangladesh raised the issue of purchase of military hardware from them. He said, if we wanted to buy any military hardware, we can take from them. We said, of course, we don’t have any objection. We are open to all countries. We also said their products were very

expensive. We like cost-effective products,” he added. The US ambassador to Bangladesh, Earl Robert Miller, placed the proposal before the foreign ministry during a meeting at the latter’s office in the capital. “We have good business relations with the USA. They have a good investment here. We have told them to invest in our energy and other sectors,” Abdul Momen said.

The minister also requested the ambassador to repatriate Bangabandhu’s killer, Rashed Chowdhury, who now lives in the USA.“We said that our court has pronounced a verdict against the self-confessed killer. The ambassador said he would inform Washington DC,” the minister said.

The minister also sought cooperation of the US government in addressing the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh. “I told them that the USA has good relations with Myanmar. They can request Myanmar for a quick repatriation of the Rohingya people living in Bangladesh. The ambassador assured us they would see to it,” he added.

The minister also sought US help for Bangladesh in achieving various social objectives. The minister said he had a positive discussion with the ambassador who also appreciated the just concluded national election.

After the meeting with the minister, Robert Miller told journalists: “We have talked about good governance, democracy and how we can build a strong Bangladesh-US relationship, including economic partnership, military sale, Indo-Pacific strategy and people-to-people ties.”

He said they talked about the foreign minister’s personal ties with the USA, as a student in that country. Asked about finalisation of the Prime Minister’s visit to Germany and the UAE, the minister said: “Nothing has been finalised. It’s under process. But most probably, she will go to Germany and then to the UAE.”

In reply to another query from journalists regarding a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the PM’s visit to Germany, he said, “We are trying and we are hopeful.”