Army chief returns home from USA
During the visit, he met senior officials of the US Army and visited various military installations and training facilities
The chief of army staff at Bangladesh Army, General Aziz Ahmed, returned home on Friday morning upon completion of his official trip to the United States.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate issued a press release to this effect on Saturday, saying the army chief reached Bangladesh at 10am on Friday.
It said General Aziz had left Bangladesh for the United States on 29 January, in response to an invitation by his US counterpart.
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During the visit, he met senior officials of the US Army and visited various military installations and training facilities. He also met several important personalities related to UN peacekeeping missions.
On 2 February, he paid a visit to the deputy assistant secretary to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy South and Southeast Asia and the representative of Defense Security Cooperation. Several issues related to bilateral cooperation between the two countries were discussed during the meeting. General Aziz laid emphasis on the expeditious extradition of Rashed Chowdhury, death row convict in the Bangabandhu murder case, to Bangladesh.
On 4 February, a guard of honour was presented to the chief of Bangladesh Army on behalf of US Army chief General McConville. National anthems of Bangladesh and the USA were played during presentation of the guard of honour at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Later, he paid a courtesy call on his US counterpart and discussed ways to strengthen the relations between the armies of the two countries, as well as matters of mutual cooperation.
Last week, General Aziz Ahmed exchanged views with the military adviser and under-secretary-generals to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission.
During the discussion, the UN senior officials acclaimed the professional skills of peacekeepers from Bangladesh.
A call has been made to deploy a helicopter unit of the Bangladesh Army to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali and provide a 13-member military police detachment to DR Congo.
The army chief made a commitment to senior UN officials with regards to scaling up the Bangladesh Army's strong role in preserving world peace.
His US trip would play an important role in increasing the number of Bangladeshi members in UN peacekeeping missions and boosting Bangladesh's delegation at the policy-making level, read the release.
