Four months after the general elections in Bangladesh, Donald Lu arrived in Dhaka on 7 May on a two-day visit. Earlier, before the elections, he had visited Bangladesh twice in January and July last year.
Evaluating Donald Lu's visit, diplomatic affairs analysts say that America's uneasiness regarding China's ever-increasing influence in the region is not hidden from anyone. Bangladesh's relations with China have strengthened in the last few years. Currently, Bangladesh is in talks with China for a loan equivalent to USD 5 billion in Chinese currency. In such a situation, America does not want the differences with Bangladesh to increase further regarding democracy and good governance. Given the geopolitical and geo-economic circumstances, it does not think it is realistic to stick to its previous tough stance. He wants to normalize relations and give importance to economic cooperation for now.
This time, the issue of Bangladesh's economy came up again and again in Donald Lu's discussions at various government and non-government levels. While talking to civil society last Tuesday, he tried to understand the current economic situation of Bangladesh. After listening to the views of civil society representatives, he highlighted America's views in this regard. Citing the example of Sri Lanka, he also said that America does not want Bangladesh to face any such trouble.
On the first day of his visit to Bangladesh, Donald Lu attended a dinner hosted by Salman F Rahman, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Private Industry and Investment. At the dinner he talked about the depletion of Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves. He wanted to know why there was a delay in releasing funds of American companies operating in Bangladesh. But diplomatic sources say that he did not exert any pressure in this regard. He said to be aware of the foreign exchange reserve situation of Bangladesh.