US welcomes Bangladesh’s focus on protecting minorities

Washington, Aug 15 (IANS) The US State Department said on Wednesday that it welcomes the interim Bangladesh government’s focus on the “protection of members of minority communities”.
Indian-American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi wrote recently to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asking him to engage with the interim government in Bangladesh to end the targeting of Hindus in the South Asian country.Another Indian-American lawmaker, Shri Thanedar, also wrote to Blinken raising concerns over the targeting of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh.”We welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and the protection of members of minority communities as well,” said Vedant Patel, a US State Department Spokesperson, at the daily press briefing here.Patel added that the US was “in touch with our Indian partners, as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events” on Bangladesh.Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Ukraine, Patel said the US welcomes “India’s engagement in the war between Russia and Ukraine, especially as it relates to ensuring that we get to a just and durable peace that is reflective of what our Ukrainian partners are attempting to do, which is defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty”.On the chances of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue taking place this year or later, the Spokesperson said, “I don’t want to speculate. What I can say is that when it comes to our partnership with India, it is robust. It is one that we are focused on every day, on, on, growing and strengthening, and it’s something that I know is shared by our colleagues at the Department of Defense. But as it relates to any kind of specific two plus two meeting or engagement. I just don’t have anything to preview right now.”–IANSyrj/khz