Not hegemony, but democracy, free and fair elections in any country in the world is the normal foreign policy of the United States, said US Ambassador Peter De Haas.
He said, many people think that the United States is dominating by talking about free and fair elections. The point is not hegemony, it's normal US foreign policy. Every country in the world has agreed on this.
He made this comment while explaining the steps taken by the United States on democracy in the country at the session entitled 'Competition in the Indo-Pacific Region' of the Bay of Bengal Conference organized by the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Monday (October 9).
In response to a question about US actions on competition with China, Peter Haas said, the word competition basically goes against China. My entire speech did not mention competition. It is basically an idea based competition. This is not a competition that needs to be forced. This competition is about ideas where every country talks about transparency, talks about democracy, talks about human rights, talks about private sector.
He also said that the United States essentially competes in those ideological spaces where dictatorships operate. Talking about Bangladesh here, it doesn't matter who they will follow East or West. The issue is whether they believe in our idea or believe in dictatorship. It is Bangladesh's decision, what they will do.
British High Commissioner Sarah Cook, Canadian High Commissioner Lily Nicholls, Australian High Commissioner Jeremy Brewer also spoke at the session. CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman moderated the session.