DHAKA, 28 April 2022, (TON): United Nations officials have expressed interest in deploying more peacekeepers from Bangladesh in bilateral meetings with Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed at UN Headquarters in New York.

According to a message received “the Bangladesh army chief 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 26.”

General Ahmed met with UN Under-Secretary-General of Department of Security and Safety Gilles Michaud, Acting Military Adviser Major General Maureen O'Brien, Assistant Secretary-General of Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs Mohammed Khaled Khiari, ASG of 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.