Bangladesh, US share a history of joint effort for emergencies: Earl Miller

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller said the United States and Bangladesh share a long history of collaboration in responding to emergencies and crises, and stated that he is proud of it. 

Miller said this at the five-day long Bangladesh-US Inter-Ministerial Course which ended in Dhaka on Thursday, a US Embassy press release states.   

"This course is another example of our strong and enduring security partnership," he said.

The training brought together 29 officials from a number of ministries and security organisations, including the foreign and defense ministries, the Armed Forces Division, Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, Customs Investigation and Intelligence Directorate, Fire Service and Civil Defense and Special Branch of police, who participated in interactive training.

Members of the US Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) based in Tampa, Florida provided the course instruction, sponsored by the US Embassy in Dhaka.

Integrating the various ministries seamlessly in a post-terrorism event is critical to developing an efficient crisis-response capability, as well as the resilience to recover following an emergency, the press release said.

Course participants learned about plan development, strategic communication, and policy development, and gained a better understanding of interagency capabilities and limitations, said the US Embassy in Bangladesh.

The course provided an open forum for participants from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and organisations to share and discuss new ideas and perspectives.  

After a series of initial lectures, participants were divided into groups and tasked with working together to develop a hypothetical intergovernmental policy on current issues.  

The course tested participants' ability to think critically, while increasing integration between ministries and security organisations that need to collaborate in response to terrorism incidents.