Three U.S. Military Commanders To Visit Bangladesh To Strengthen Security Cooperation

November 2, 2009 8:48 a.m. EST

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Three high-ranking United States military officials are scheduled to visit Bangladesh early this month. The officials are making separate trips, but the goal of each of the visits is to strengthen bilateral security cooperation between the two countries.

The officials who will visit are U.S. Army Lieutenant General Benjamin R. Mixon, Commanding General of U.S. Army, Pacific, Vice-Admiral John M. Bird, Commander of U.S. Navy 7th Fleet, and U.S. Marine Corps Major General Randolph D. Alles, Director for Strategic Planning and Policy at the U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. embassy officials said on Monday.

During their trips, Mixon, Bird and Alles will meet with Bangladesh army and navy chiefs and senior government officials to discuss several issues. Those issues are related to U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance programs, security and counterterrorism cooperation as well as peacekeeping operations, a U.S. embassy press statement said in the capital, Dhaka.

"Their discussions will focus on interoperability, readiness in the region, security-force assistance, and bilateral approaches to maintaining regional stability," the U.S. embassy said.

These visits underscore the importance of cooperation in security, humanitarian assistance and counterterrorism between the two countries, it added.