The concerns of the United States over the situation in Bangladesh including attacks on minorities were discussed during the fifth annual Partnership Dialogue between Bangladesh and US in Washington that concluded on Friday. “We’ve long talked about our concerns over the situation in Bangladesh, and I – again, I would say that clearly those issues and our concerns were obviously part of the discussions here at the State Department,” John Kirby, Spokesperson of US State Department, told a questioner at a briefing on Friday.
 Meanwhile, on the last day of the dialogue, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque claimed that Bangladesh’s relationship with the United States has over the years ‘matured from aid-dependency to strategic one’, said a press release forwarded by the Bangladesh Embassy in US yesterday. Haque led the inter-ministerial Bangladesh delegation at the 2-day dialogue while US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Ambassador Tom Shannon led his team. Shannon said the US was ‘proud’ of its partnership with Bangladesh and looking forward to deeper engagements in coming days.