Bangladesh has recently appointed a US firm for a year to work to further deepen Dhaka’s relations with Washington, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam confirmed on Thursday. “This is just to confirm that we’ve recently appointed Nelson Mullins to maintain government to government relations. It’s a GR (government relations) firm,” he told reporters at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Shahriar hoped that the relations between Bangladesh and the USA will be deepened and strengthened through the appointment of the GR firm in a very transparent manner. He said the firm has been hired at a monthly pay of US$ 20,000 for its services. The move comes after the recent US sanctions against Bangladesh’s elite law enforcement force Rapid Action Battalion and seven of its current and former officials. Also read: Govt hired lobbyists to protect HR offenders: BNP Shahriar said this is a public document and anybody can have access to it for further details. While talking to a small group of reporters at his office on February 22, the state minister said they had talked to three firms and indicated to come to a decision within a week. He also made it clear that they have enough capacity to tackle the matter - either on legal front or diplomatic front – and said the government of Bangladesh does not want to involve a third country in this process. He said that Bangladesh and the United States would see more engagements through a number of bilateral platforms including ‘Partnership Dialogue’ in the coming months. Earlier, Bangladesh conveyed its ‘discontent’ over the designated sanctions imposed by the US Departments of Treasury and of State on some of the present and former officials of the Rapid Action Battalion. Also read: Appointed PR firm, not lobbyist, to change wrong perception: FM Bangladesh says the decision was taken ‘unilaterally’ by the US Administration without any prior consultation with the government of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also underscored the need for pursuing the pathway of dialogue, engagement and collaboration.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the Awami League government had appointed a PR (public relations) firm, not lobbyist, to promote good governance and a positive image of Bangladesh. He said when they (BNP-Jamaat) appointed lobbyists to halt the trials of war criminals, the government appointed the PR firm to change the wrong perception. Read:Bangladesh remains open to foreign observers in next polls: FM “We call it a PR firm, not a lobbyist,” said the Foreign Minister after attending a function in the city while responding to questions from reporters. He said there is nothing wrong in engaging lobbyists but the objectives of engaging them matter when its aim is to harm the country and its interests. Referring to appointment of lobbyists by BNP, the Foreign Minister said the key objective of that was to harm the country and its interests. “There might be a quarrel between you and me. But it’s very unfortunate if the country’s interests are sacrificed for that,” he added. Read: Bangladesh to lobby, if required, anywhere in US: FM Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr Momen inaugurated a month-long exhibition at the Liberation War Museum as the chief guest while State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman, MP, attended it as a special guest. The Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh have jointly brought this exhibition to Dhaka, in collaboration with the Photo Elysée Museum of Lausanne, Switzerland.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said the Awami League government did never engage any lobbyist in its last three tenures but engaged a company purely on media front in 2015 to help the world know Bangladesh based on facts and counter propaganda against the country and its people. “We want to make it clear the Awami League government in its last three tenures didn’t engage any lobbyists. What we did is purely media-related print-media targeted,” said the State Minister. He talked to a small group of reporters as some of the journalists approached him to know more about his statement he made in Parliament on Monday. Also read: BNP spent a lot on lobbying by US firm: Shahriar The State Minister said Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) spent at least US$ 3.75 million on lobbyists and shared relevant documents with the media which are also available in public domain. Shahriar mentioned fact-based stories on women empowerment, climate change, poverty alleviation and Rohingya crisis that appeared in the international mainstream media in the last four-five years. The State Minister said Bangladesh also countered with facts when there is any negative perception in the global media and when someone writes something negative about Bangladesh and its people deliberately. “We engaged the PR company as in most cases rejoinders aren’t published with due importance which is a common practice at home and abroad,” he said, adding that it is not a lobbyist firm. Shahriar said the government will do only those things which are “judiciously correct” and acceptable to the people of the country. The State Minister said some media outlets, being operated from foreign lands, are acting as spokespersons of BNP-Jamaat, and they are pointing fingers against Bangladesh. He said they have so far eight agreements in hand and at least three agreements show BNP’s central office address. One of the agreements was signed with Blue Strategies, LLC in Washington for a period - September 2018 to May 2020, Shahriar said. Also read: Bay of Bengal resources to be tapped in environment-friendly way: Shahriar Alam He said they will forward these documents related to eight agreements to the Bangladesh Bank governor to check how BNP sent that huge amount of money abroad. Shahriar also said they can share those documents with the Election Commission through relevant Bangladesh Missions abroad and also from here if they want as every year political parties show their incomes and expenditures. Responding to a question, the State Minister said BNP and Jamaat are two sides of the same coin and mentioned that they found Jamaat’s names in the contents of four documents. “I’m sure there are more beyond these agreements,” he said, suggesting journalists to do investigative journalism. The State Minister said there is nothing wrong in engaging a lobbyist but it is not good to hide the fact and act against the interest of Bangladesh and its people. Asked whether he sees it as a defeat of the government's diplomacy against lobbyists, he said, “We don’t see it as a defeat against lobbyists using dirty money against our diplomacy.” Responding to a question on RAB, he said the government remains engaged with the US and there will be an exchange of high-level visits soon. “I don’t want to elaborate. We hope there’ll be a solution to the problem.” He hoped that they would bring a positive outcome through engaging with the US directly without engaging any lobbyists. “We do believe it. We don’t have an immediate plan to appoint a lobbyist firm.” Shahriar said they do not believe in pursuing political agenda using that route where cash is involved.