Bangladesh important to US: envoy Mozena

30 December 2011, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena yesterday said Bangladesh is strategically important to the United States because it is a comparatively secular and large Muslim country in a very troubled part of the world. The US promotes human rights, democracy and secularism. If Bangladesh strengthens its relationship with China, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it matters to the US, he said. The US ambassador was addressing a reception for 40 US architectural historians, visiting the country to study and learn about its architecture, in the city's Brac Centre Inn. Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), University of Asia Pacific and Brac University jointly hosted the reception. The visiting historians including professors, architects and planners will also visit India's Chandigarh and Delhi to study their architectural history. Addressing the reception, IAB President Mubasshar Hussein gave an overview of the country's history and its rich architecture. Brac University Vice-Chancellor Prof Ainun Nishat said the countrymen do not pay adequate attention to its heritage and architecture and hoped that these visits would “rekindle a sense of history” among countrymen. Prof M Abu Sayeed, head of the architecture department at University of Asia Pacific, gave a presentation on the architectural history of the subcontinent spanning across the centuries. Noted architect Shamsul Wares talked about contemporary architecture expanding from 1953 till date.