US Chargé d’Affaires in Dhaka, Tracey Ann Jacobson’s departure for Washington DC on July 4 on an Emirates flight (No. EK-583) has sparked speculation that the State Department may have finally decided to pull her out of the Bangladesh capital six months after she assumed responsibilities.
There has been no formal acknowledgement of Jacobson’s departure even as Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry officials said that she may have proceeded on leave. This is unusual considering that Jacobson went on a 20-day visit to Washington, via Doha, on May 22.
In Doha, Jacobson was said to have met other US officials before heading out for Washington DC. Soon after this, Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman also reached Doha on May 26.
While he was said to be on “official visit”, Khalilur Rahman met American officials before returning to Dhaka on 27.
At that time, other Bangladeshi officials had insisted that Khalilur Rahman’s Doha trip was for inviting Qatar Amir Tamim bin Hamad Khalifa Al Thani’s daughter to visit a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar, which so far has not materialised.
Six days after Jacobson’s departure for Washington DC, US Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Dhaka, Megan Bouldin, met Bangladesh Home Ministry Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on July 10.
During this meeting, Bouldin raised two critical issues with Chowdhury – Bangladesh’s weak counter-terrorism response and rebuilding ties with India.
Bouldin assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in August 2024. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Bouldin served as Director of the Department’s 24/7 Bureau of Intelligence and Research Watch in Washington before taking up the Dhaka assignment.
The State Department’s approach towards Bangladesh, since the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime took charge on August 8, has been seemingly “perfunctory” as evidenced by the prolonged absence of a regular ambassador since July 23, 2024, when previous incumbent Peter Haas moved back to the US.
It took the State Department, still manned by officials handpicked during the Biden administration, six months to post Jacobson, who was previously held ambassadorial assignments in other countries, as the Chargé d’Affaires.
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This was done with the objective of maintaining “continuity” in line with the policy aims of the Biden administration.
Some Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry officials were chary to describe Jacobson’s return to the US as a sign of a new beginning.
Other sources said the delay in the formal appointment of Paul Kapur as the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, even though he was to “respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate”, casts serious questions on his fate.
