Dhaka: Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande met Bangladesh's top military commanders, including the Prime Minister's defence advisor Maj Gen (retd.) Tareq Ahmed Siddiqui, on Monday on the first day of his maiden visit and discussed issues related to bilateral interests including increasing defence cooperation.
General Pande, who arrived in Dhaka on a three-day visit at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the Bangladesh Army here. This is the first foreign visit by General Pande since assuming his office, said a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Monday. Gen Pande met Gen Ahmed at the Bangladesh military headquarters and discussed ways to enhance and strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
The two army chiefs discussed matters in an exclusive meeting, the Bangladesh Army statement said. "At the very onset of his meeting (with Gen Ahmed) General Manoj Pande said Bangladesh is the destination of his maiden overseas tour to manifest his respect to Bangladesh and the historic and existing good relations between the two armies, the statement quoted him as saying.
Also read: Army Chief Gen Pande leaves for Bangladesh on 3-day visit
He later joined a briefing on the Bangladesh army's war preparedness, training, the role in UN peacekeeping missions and its overall administrative structure. Gen Pande commenced his visit by paying tributes to the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War by laying a wreath at the Shikha Anirban. He was also given a guard of honour.
He met Bangladesh Navy chief Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, Air Vice Marshal M Shafiqul Alam and the Prime Minister's defence adviser Maj Gen (retd.) Siddiqui and discussed issues related to bilateral interests including increasing defence cooperation. The Indian army chief is being accompanied by his spouse Archana Pande and a three-member delegation. Gen Pande will also pay tributes to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi. He will also be visiting various military stations. (PTI)
