Dhaka: The United States has described the current political condition in Bangladesh as ‘tense’.

“Obviously, the situation in Bangladesh is a tense one, but I think the two leaders (Barack Obama and Narendar Modi)) during this (Obama’s) visit were able to point to the power of democratic forces and what it can do to empower all of its citizens,” said Phil Reiner, NSC Senior Director for South Asian Affairs, in Washington on Tuesday.

He came up with the remark when Mushfiqul Fazal from Bangladesh sought comment on the current situation in Bangladesh.

Phil Reiner at the briefing on President Obama's trip to India: Perspectives on US-India Relations, also said, “And I think this is an ongoing conversation that we’ve seen between the two leaders and one that we take very seriously and would continue to promote.”

He also said the visit and the President’s trip as chief guest, one of the things that he was able to see in terms of the conversation between the President and the Prime Minister was the role that India’s democratic process and the example that it sets can play.

“And we’ve seen, I think, the power of that, the symbolic element of India’s - of the world’s largest democratic election in history and the example that that can set, perhaps, if we look to the situation in Sri Lanka,” he added.