US Ambassador Earl Robert Miller is the first envoy who had meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahdiul Haque at his office to discuss about the Dec 30 election among other issues.

The meeting between Haque and Miller took place on Wednesday (Jan 2), three days after the national polls.

After the meeting, journalists approached the envoy but he did not make any comment. However, the State Department in Washington issued a statement on the election 12 hours before the meeting.

The State Department in its reaction to the national election commended the participation of voters and all political parties, but it also requested the Election Commission to work constructively with all sides to address claims of irregularities.

An official said, the secretary and envoy had a brief one-to-one parley and later other officials joined the meeting held at the foreign ministry.

Miller narrated the US position and handed over its reaction officially to the foreign secretary, said a source.

“The US upholds certain values including democracy, human rights and freedom of speech,” said the official.

We took note of their position and responded duly in the meeting, he said.

“Dhaka and Washington have robust engagement and we expect that it will grow in the coming days as the US has already expressed that it will work with the government,” he added.

The new US ambassador arrived in November and definitely he has chalked out his future plans of engagement, the official added.

Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) Mia Seppo also had meeting with the foreign secretary.

The meeting continued for about one and half hour and in the discussion, she reiterated the UN position conveyed after the election.

After the meeting, Seppo told journalist that they discussed Rohingya and UN reform issues.