U.S. Presidential poll:’’ Whoever comes to power, we have no issues’’, says Bangladesh FM Momen

WITH counting of votes for 2020 U.S.Presidential poll commencing,  Bangladesh  Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Hasina government does not have any issue with any candidate. ‘’Our Foreign policy does not depend on any individual, Dr Momen told reporters at his office in Dhaka on Wednesday. The Foreign Minister said it is too early to say who will win the election. Bangladesh’s economy is doing well and the country is geopolitically in a favorable situation. ‘’We maintain neutrality. We don’t have enmity with any country.  Bangladesh will work well with the US on the trade and investment front, he said adding  Bangladesh wants to see stability everywhere. Meanwhile, The Daily Star quoting analysts say if Democratic candidate Joe Biden wins, he will relax restrictions on immigration laws. However, any other policy which would apply to Bangladesh will remain largely the same. “Because of Trump’s policy change, many Bangladeshis who have not been able to secure the legal status in the US will benefit if Biden wins. Many families who had been separated will be able to reunite eventually,” said former foreign secretary Touhid Hossain. Sultana Rahman, a New York-based Bangladeshi journalist, said she believes that about 90 percent of the Bangladeshis in the US support Biden. Easing immigration laws will, however, mostly benefit Latinos and Indians. He said traditionally, the US monitors democracy, human rights, labour rights and issues annual reports on that to create pressures for improving the indicators. This is a regular process and is not affected by who’s in power. Asked if there will be any change in how the Trump administration had tried to advance the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) during his tenure, the foreign policy expert said one of the objectives of the IPS is to counter China with which US has been in a tough trade war. edited by PK Chakravarty