US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the ties between Bangladeshis and Americans grow deeper and more intertwined with every generation as the two countries celebrate five decades of friendship.
“I look forward to seeing what our people will build together in the decades ahead as we continue to follow that star of freedom,” he said in a video message celebrating five decades of diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and the United States.
Secretary Blinken thanked Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, who is now in Washington to have a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart; and Bangladesh Ambassador to the US M Shahidul Islam “for being the latest stewards of this crucial” relationship.
For generations, Secretary Blinken said, Bangladeshis have made tremendous contributions to the United States.
He cited the example of the iconic Sears Tower to refer to what the Bangladeshis and Americans can achieve together.
In 1952, Fazlur Rahman Khan was the first Bangladeshi to receive the Fulbright Scholarship to study in the US, completed his PhD and two master's degrees in structural engineering and mechanics, the US Secretary of State mentioned.
Later, he joined an architecture firm in Chicago where he designed an office building for Sears Corporation.
“In 1973, just a year after our countries established diplomatic relations, the iconic Sears Tower was finished in downtown Chicago. Since then, the tower has defined a classic American skyline and it represents just one manifestation of what Americans and Bangladeshis can build together," Blinken said.
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50 years later, he said the two countries collaborate virtually on every issue that matters to their people.
Secretary Blinken said the two countries have forged partnership to improve public health, strengthening local health systems, bringing down maternal mortality in Bangladesh by two thirds over the last two decades and fighting Covid-19 with 61 million doses of safe, effective vaccines provided by the United States to Bangladeshis.
In 2021, Secretary Blinken said, the US bought more Bangladeshi products than any other country did, representing some US$ 8.3 billion. “We encourage Bangladesh to make progress on workers’ rights to deepen our robust economic partnership.”
He mentioned about joint efforts in tackling clime crisis, Bangladesh’s contributions to peacekeeping and Rohingya crisis noting that the Rohingyas have fled genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the military in Myanmar.
“We commend Bangladesh for hosting nearly 1 million refugees and for continuing to offer support for those efforts as we have since the crisis started,” Secretary Blinken said.
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He also said, "We are tackling the climate crisis together, strengthening the resilience of the communities that are already affected by the rising sea level and more severe storms, investing in clean energy and protecting wetlands and forests in Bangladesh for future generations.”
Blinken said the US and Bangladesh address humanitarian conflicts and crises together, from responding to natural disasters to supporting Bangladesh's role as one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping operations.
He recalled that in February 1972, Senator Ted Kennedy visited Bangladesh and spoke to the students at University of Dhaka and the values that tied the peoples of the two countries – the similar struggles for independence, love for liberty and journeys to follow the star of freedom.
The United States recognized Bangladesh on April 4, 1972, in a press statement from Secretary of State William Rogers.
In addition, Herbert Spivack, the principal U.S. officer in Dhaka, delivered a message from President Richard Nixon to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman informing him that the United States government wished to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.