Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Manoj Pande left for Dhaka on a four-day official visit to augment bilateral defence ties between India and Bangladesh.

The Army Chief will commence his visit on Monday by paying tributes to the brave-hearts who made the supreme sacrifice during the Liberation War of 1971 by laying a wreath at the Shikha Anirban, said the ministry of defence. During the day, the COAS will be carrying out multiple meetings with senior officials of the security establishment and exchange views on various defence-related issues. In his first foreign visit since becoming Army Chief, General Pandey will also pay tributes to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi.

In May, Gen Manoj Pande spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen SM Shafiuddin Ahmed to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and on evolving geopolitical situation to assess its impact on regional security.

On the second day, the Army Chief will address the students and faculty of Defence Services Command And Staff College, Mirpur. He will thereafter visit and interact with the members of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support and Operation Training (BIPSOT), a premier institute of Bangladesh which trains peacekeepers for employment in various UN Peace Operations, the MoD stated. This will be followed by a visit to the Bangabandhu Military Museum at Mirpur.

The ministry believes that the "COAS visit will further deepen the bilateral relationships between the two Armies and act as a catalyst for closer coordination and cooperation between the two countries on a host of strategic issues".

Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed was in India last September.

comment COMMENT NOW