State Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam urged not to apply the US new visa policy arbitrarily.
He said, Dhaka is considering Washington's announcement in the context of the government's unequivocal commitment to hold free and fair elections at all levels with the aim of upholding the country's democratic process. However, Bangladesh hopes that this visa policy will be followed objectively rather than applied arbitrarily.
He said this in a response to the new visa policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (May 25).
During a press briefing, the state minister described the individual visa policy for Bangladesh under the 3C provision of the US Immigration and Nationality Act announced by the US Secretary of State on Wednesday night as the 'so-called 3C provision'. However, he explained it in the question and answer session. He said, since 2021, the United States has been applying that provision to various countries. It was applied in Bangladesh after Nigeria and Somalia, hence it is called 'so-called'. Neither welcoming nor rejecting that policy, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs hopes it will not be abused.
He said, the attention of the Bangladesh government has been drawn to the US government's visa policy announcement. Bangladesh is considering the US announcement in the context of the government's unequivocal commitment to hold free and fair elections at all levels to uphold the country's democratic process. However, Bangladesh hopes that this visa policy will be followed objectively rather than applied arbitrarily.
Bangladesh has been established as a democratic and politically stable state under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through the experience of various national and local level elections.