Bangladesh Army chief Gen Aziz meets senior UN officials on US visit

Bangladesh Army chief General Aziz Ahmed has held several meetings with senior United Nations officials during a state visit to the United States this week.

During the meetings, he reiterated Bangladesh's 'unwavering commitment' and 'continued support' for UN peacekeeping operations, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

According to the ISPR, Gen Aziz had a meeting with Atul Khare, the UN under-secretary general for Operational Support, on Feb 8. During the meeting, he thanked the UN for listing Bangladesh Biman as peacekeeping transport.

Khare thanked the government of Bangladesh over the successful role of Bangladesh Biman in the UN peacekeeping mission amid the COVID-19 pandemic and commended Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leading role in human rights issues, including peacekeeping, climate change and women's empowerment.

The talks focused on increasing Bangladesh's manpower in various UN missions, expediting the payment of compensation to peacekeepers who were injured or dead, clearing the unpaid reimbursement to the Bangladesh Army and the arrangements for vaccinating Bangladeshi peacekeepers, among other issues.

The activities of other Bangladeshi forces in UN missions were also discussed, the ISPR said.

The army chief also had a meeting with Under-Secretary General Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Feb 9.

Lacroix praised the professionalism, discipline, dedication and courage of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers engaged in UN peacekeeping operations during the meeting, according to the ISPR statement.

On the same day, Gen Aziz also met with Lt Gen Carlos Humberto Loitey, military adviser for UN Peacekeeping, to discuss various issues of mutual interest.

The chief of army staff left for the US on Jan 29 at the invitation of his US Army counterpart. He will wrap up the visit and return home on Feb 12.