When they met at the Hill on Thursday, Shahidul also thanked Engel for putting greater pressure on Myanmar so that the latter stops persecution of the ethnic minority, said a press release issued on Friday.

Engel appreciated Bangladesh for hosting the persecuted Rohingyas.

Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.1 million Rohingya. Most of them came here after the Myanmar security force’s brutal offensive in August 2017.

Congressman Engel also expressed his hope to visit Bangladesh soon and see the Rohingya camps and hold talks with various stakeholders. 

Foreign Secretary Shahidul exchanged views with a group of staffers from both House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

He briefed the staffers on various aspects of Bangladesh foreign relations, the ongoing Rohingya crisis and Bangladesh’s trade and investment opportunities in US and other countries. 

He also met Jennifer Wethey, acting deputy assistant to the president, and Zeba Rayazuddin, acting assistant US Trade Representative.

Earlier in the day, Shahidul addressed a group of scholars at the Heritage Foundation. He shared his ideas on evolving orders in Asia.

On Wednesday, he met senior executives of National Cotton Council. 

The foreign secretary also held a meeting with Assistant Secretary, Asia-Pacific, Department of Defense, Randall Schriver. Various issues relating to US-Bangladesh defense cooperation came up at the meeting. 

Bangladesh Ambassador to US Mohammad Ziauddin and senior officials of Foreign Ministry and Bangladesh Embassy in Washington accompanied the foreign secretary during the meetings.