DHAKA, Jan. 29 -- Stressing that US President Donald Trump's foreign policy is going to be staunchly transactional, instead of values-based values, American scholar Michael Kugelman on Wednesday said the new administration in Washington will view its relationship with Bangladesh through commercial and geopolitical perspectives.

"At least initially, we can assume the administration, when it focuses on Bangladesh, will apply two lenses - commercial and geopolitical," said Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, adding that trade would remain on the table as part of bilateral ties which have remained fairly constant, and that will likely continue.

Kugelman, America's leading South Asia specialist,...