Dhaka, Washington pledge to bolster security ties

Bangladesh and USA stressed the importance of deeper and stronger partnership in common pursuit to seek effective solutions to their mutual security concerns, reports UNB.
Bangladesh has reiterated its unwavering commitment to denounce terrorism and extremism in all forms and manifestations.
Bangladesh and the United States shared commitments of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Barack Obama to co-host the UN peacekeeping summit on the sidelines of the high level segment of the upcoming 70th UNGA.
The issues came up for discussion at the fourth security dialogue between the countries held in Washington DC on Friday, according to a message received here on Saturday.
The fourth round of Bangladesh-USA Security Dialogue was held at the US Department of State, Washington DC, USA.
Mizanur Rahman, Secretary (Bilateral and Consular), ministry of foreign affairs, led the nine-member Bangladesh delegation in the dialogue comprising of representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, home affairs, defence, Armed Forces Division, and the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, DC.
The US delegation, which was composed of a diverse inter-agency group from different bureaus of the Department of State, Department of Defense, US Pacific Command, was led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Todd Chapman. US  Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat also participated in the dialogue.
The day-long dialogue contained discussions on a wide range of issues pertaining to the security partnership between the two countries.
The issues included strategic priorities and regional issues, military-to-military cooperation, cyber security, UN peacekeeping, counter terrorism and violent extremism, and disaster management.
Both the sides converged on the importance of deeper and stronger partnership in their common pursuit to seek effective solutions to mutual security concerns.
The US side applauded the invaluable contribution of Bangladesh to promoting global peace under the aegis of the UN peacekeeping operations.
Both the sides underscored different aspects of growing cooperation between the two nations in this critically important field.
The dialogue ended with a pledge to work together to build on the current robust security relations between the two countries in the coming years. The fifth round of security dialogue will be held in Dhaka next year.
Bangladesh thanked the US side for inviting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to participate in the counter-violent extremism summit, another UNGA signature event to be hosted by President Obama this September.