Published on 04:45 PM, May 09, 2016

Bangladesh, US and India to fight terrorism jointly: Bernicat

US ambassador to Dhaka Marcia Bernicat.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat today said that US, Bangladesh and India will join efforts in countering violent extremism and terrorism.

The three countries are on the same page when it comes to the security and stability of the region, the US envoy said after a meeting with Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque at the foreign ministry.

The US is going to join efforts with Bangladesh in combating terrorism and violent extremism, she said.

Principle media assistant deputy sectary of Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs of the United States, will be in Dhaka next week and bring a delegation, looking at all kinds of details of the kind of cooperation they can do, Bernicat said at a press briefing afterwards.

Saying that stability and security should be priority of all governments regardless of their political systems, she said: “I think every democracy and many countries that are not democracies are on the same page in terms of wanting to see security and stability, wanting to see development in the country, because when there’s chaos bad things happen.”

She also emphasised the role her government is playing in helping the countries it works with achieve that goal.

“In this regard, all of the countries whom we work with want to see peace and stability and we work with countries around the world to make sure that happens,” said Bernicat.

Bangladesh has seen a rise in violent extremism in recent years, including the murder of an employee of the US Embassy, Xulhaz Mannan who was also an editor of the only LGBT magazine in the country.