DHAKA, July 26, 2025 — Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman has embarked on a week-long official visit to the United States, departing early Saturday morning via Doha, Qatar — a key geopolitical transit point increasingly viewed as a hub for secretive diplomacy in the region.
According to travel records accessed by Northeast News, Rahman boarded Qatar Airways flight QR-639 from Dhaka in the early hours of July 26. An official order dated July 24 from the office of Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus confirmed the trip as an “official visit to the USA from July 26, 2025, to August 3, 2025.” He is expected to return to Dhaka on August 5. The visit includes scheduled meetings with unnamed “senior US officials.”
This is Khalilur Rahman’s second such trip in just over two months. On May 26, he traveled to Doha on the same flight and reportedly met with U.S. military and intelligence personnel stationed in the Gulf state. Those meetings reportedly focused on developments in Myanmar’s Rakhine State — particularly around the controversial issue of establishing a so-called “humanitarian corridor” into territory controlled by the Arakan Army, an armed ethnic group engaged in conflict with Myanmar’s military regime.
The ‘Humanitarian Corridor’ Controversy
Rahman’s last visit to Doha sparked heated debate in Bangladesh’s security establishment, particularly after reports emerged of U.S. pressure to open a humanitarian access route into Myanmar’s Rakhine region. The corridor proposal — purportedly aimed at facilitating aid to conflict-affected civilians — drew sharp resistance from Bangladesh’s military, particularly Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, who viewed the move as a security threat and a possible channel for external interference.
Under mounting internal pressure, Rahman backed down from advocating the plan and has since avoided making public statements regarding the issue. However, his subsequent private meeting with Myanmar’s Ambassador to Bangladesh, U Kyaw Soe Moe, in Dhaka on July 15 has reignited speculation that diplomatic maneuvering around Rakhine continues behind the scenes.
Analysts: Visit Tied to Myanmar Operations
Bangladeshi security analysts suggest that Rahman’s current U.S. trip is likely centered on strategic coordination over Myanmar, with potential implications for military and intelligence support to ethnic armed groups like the Arakan Army.
“This visit is clearly related to the situation in Rakhine. Any international or covert operation to support or monitor developments there will be finalized before the monsoon ends,” one security analyst, who requested anonymity, told The Voice.
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Dhaka, Tracey Ann Jacobson, was also in Doha around the time of Rahman’s previous visit and later traveled to Washington before returning to Dhaka after nearly three weeks. Her movements have fueled theories of a broader U.S.-led coordination effort involving Bangladesh and Myanmar, possibly under the guise of humanitarian support.
The United States has long been critical of Myanmar’s military junta and continues to impose sanctions on key figures and military-owned enterprises in Myanmar. Yet, it has also quietly supported limited engagements with ethnic armed groups and humanitarian actors in the country’s frontier regions.
With geopolitical tensions simmering across South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Khalilur Rahman’s visit to Washington — routed once again through Doha — appears to signal a renewed phase of shadow diplomacy as Bangladesh balances domestic political volatility with growing pressure from global powers.
Sources:
Northeast News, State Department – U.S.-Myanmar Relations, UN News on Myanmar, Al Jazeera
