Hillary rushes to PMO, meeting Dipu

Dhaka, May 5 (sunnews24.com) — Bangladesh and the US began their bilateral talks barely an hour after the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, arrived on Saturday afternoon on a 24-hour trip.

Clinton was driven to the Prime Minister's Office straight from the airport for the talks and a joint press conference.

She went into a meeting with her Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni on reaching the PMO.

She arrived around 4:45 pm in Dhaka, but stayed inside the plane for some time.

Ambassador Dan W Mozena briefed Clinton in the plane as they did not have enough time to go to the hotel before reaching the PMO for holding formal talks with Bangladesh foreign minister, officials said.

Dipu is leading an 11-member Bangladesh delegation in the meeting that started around 6pm.

A declaration on Bangladesh-US Partnership Cooperation is expected to be signed during the 24-hour visit of the dignitary. The US has similar partnership deals with India and China to hold regular dialogue.

Bangladesh is also likely to vigorously pursue duty-free access for its garment products.