Blinken’s policy adviser Chollet in city

Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen received him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Chollet will meet senior officials in Bangladesh on Wednesday to discuss "coordination and response" to the Rohingya refugee crisis, strengthening cooperation in international fora, and advancing the "security partnership" between Dhaka and Washington.

He is leading a seven-member interagency delegation. The delegation includes Clinton White, Counselor to the Administrator at the USAID; Elizabeth Horst, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State; Beth Van Schaack, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and three other members.

During the visit, the US delegation will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina andForeign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

They will also have a separate meeting with the Foreign Secretary along with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D Haas and Embassy officials are expected to accompany the delegation in the meetings.

The US Counselor serves at the rank of under-secretary as a senior policy advisor to the US secretary of state on a wide range of issues and conducts special diplomatic assignments as directed by the secretary.

Bangladesh saw a series of senior US officials visiting it in recent months with the last one by US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Donald Lu.

The US sees "huge potential" in their relationship with Bangladesh and a lot of "room to grow."