Two days after Election Day in the United States, neither candidate had amassed the votes needed to win the White House. But Joe Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away - any would do - from becoming president-elect.

President Donald Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.

With millions of votes yet to be tabulated, Biden already had received more than 71 million votes, the most in history. At an afternoon news conference on Wednesday, the former vice president said he expected to win the presidency but stopped short of outright declaring victory.

Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the "blue wall" battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump's path, according to AP.

With just a handful of states still up for grabs until Thursday evening, Trump tried to press his case in court in some key swing states.

It was unclear if any of his campaign's legal maneuvering over balloting would succeed in shifting the race in his favor.

Should there be any impact on Bangladesh-US relationship if there is a change in the US leadership? In reply, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has made it clear that Bangladesh does not have any problem whoever wins the US election which witnessed a very tight contest.

"Whoever comes to power, we have no problem," Dr Momen said, mentioning that foreign policy does not depend on any individual.

The Foreign Minister said it is too early to say who will win the election. "This is technically a different type of election. They've designed the system pretty nicely, having dignity for each State."

Dr Momen said Bangladesh's economy is doing very well and Bangladesh is geopolitically in a very good situation. "We maintain neutrality. We don't have enmity with any country. We expect good for all."

The Foreign Minister said he thinks Bangladesh will work very well with the US on the trade and investment front. "We have good relations.

Dr Momen said Bangladesh wants to see stability everywhere. "We want solid stability."

In this interconnected world, he said, it will be good for Bangladesh if stability prevails everywhere.

The Foreign Minister said many countries, including the Trump Administration, remained busy with their respective countries since the Covid-19 pandemic. "It seems this trend will continue for many days."

The Foreign Minister recalled that President Donald Trump cancelled the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

At that time Trump fulfilled a campaign pledge by signing an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The 12-nation trade deal was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama's Asia policy.

The Foreign Minister said whoever comes to power after the US election, the US government works in line with their people's and country's interest.

Bangladesh is hopeful of continuity on discussion with the United States on strengthening economic ties as the election results are unlikely to have any impact on it.

Responding to a question, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said as far as Bangladesh-US relationship is concerned, the US' relationship does not depend on individual or party.

Rather, Masud Momen said, such a relationship goes through an institutional framework.

He said the government will work on maintaining the stable relationship with the US keeping economic ties unhurt and there will be efforts to restore the facilities that remain suspended.

The Foreign Secretary said both the countries discussed recently how to strengthen economic cooperation exploring new avenues.

During the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun, the US side discussed the issues that the US Department of State pursues but not the political issues, he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The United States wants to deepen its ties across South Asia, particularly with Bangladesh and India, as it sees real potential to have stronger relations.

"We're at a moment of real potential in the opportunity to deepen our relations across South Asia, but in particular with these two partners - India and Bangladesh," said the US Deputy Secretary of State.

After the visit, Biegun said they have an intervening election that will happen but he reiterates his confidence that regardless of the outcome of their elections, the future is quite bright for relations between the United States and these two very important South Asian partners.

He said his recent visit to both Bangladesh and India was part of a series of engagements the United States has had with both of these critical partners.

"And it's one that you'll see continuing to progress over the weeks and months ahead," he said adding, "It's certainly a task that I'm happy to be a part of and I'm very much looking forward to our next engagements."

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