The officials of the United Nations have expressed interest in deploying more peacekeepers from Bangladesh in peacekeeping missions during the bilateral meetings with Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed at UN Headquarters (UNHQs) in New York.
The Bangladesh army chief also had meetings with senior officials of the UN on various issues of mutual interest, including peacekeeping operations during his visit to UNHQ on April 25 and April 26.
General Ahmed met with UN Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Security and Safety Gilles Michaud, Acting Military Adviser Major General Maureen O’Brien, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) of the Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs Mohammed Khaled Khiari, ASG of the Department of Operational Support Christian Saunders and Police Adviser Luis Ribeiro Carrilho.
During the meetings, the Bangladesh army chief proposed to replace the long-used weapons and equipment in the Bangladeshi contingents of the peacekeeping mission with new weapons and equipment sourced from Bangladesh, to which the concerned officials readily agreed.
As a result, the long-awaited issue of replacing weapons was resolved which would eventually play a significant role in enhancing Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ capability, security, and morale, said a press release of Bangladesh Permanent Mission in UN.
The army chief mentioned that Bangladeshi peacekeepers are nominated through a rigorous selection process and sent to the mission with advanced pre-deployment training. The UN acting military adviser highly praised the Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ professionalism, ethics, and discipline.
