State Minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Wednesday said that the United States is addressing the visa issue for the students from Bangladesh.
He made the comment after his meeting with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun at a city hotel.
Biegun arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon. This is the highest level visit from the US to Bangladesh during President Donald Trump administration.
Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry of President Barack Obama administration visited Bangladesh in August 2016.
Covid-19, Indo-Pacific strategy, trade and investment and Rohingya are some of the key issues of discussion during the deputy secretary of state’s visit.
But it comes at a time when Bangladeshi students are calling it ‘discriminatory’ as they are not getting any visa for the pandemic.
On Thursday, a group of US’s prospective graduate students (Spring 2021-January Session) will hold a virtual press conference to highlight what they said their “distressed condition” that all the prospective students are going through due to the cancellation of all routine nonimmigrant visa appointments since March 19 by US Embassy Bangladesh.
“They are addressing it,” the state minister said when asked whether he discussed the issue with his counterpart.
Shahriar said it is taking time since the Covid-19 situation varies from one state to another in the US. "For a visa, one uniform rule is needed. So it takes time," he quoted the visiting deputy secretary as saying.
He also appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership in tackling the Covid-19 situation.
Biegun will meet the Prime Minister on Thursday after his meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the state guesthouse Padma.
He will also visit the Bangabandhu museum at Dhanmondi-32 to pay respect to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
According to the state department, his engagements in Bangladesh will also focus on “advancing our common vision of a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific region with shared prosperity for all.”
