Bangladesh Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed left for the United States on an official visit on Sunday at the invitation of the US Army to attend a military conference in Honolulu Hawaii.

Inter-Services Public Relation Directorate in a press release stated that the army chief, during his visit, would participate in the Land Forces Pacific, better known as LANPAC, Conference to be held between May 16 and May 18.

The ISPR stated that the aim of the conference is to create an atmosphere of mutual trust, develop professional relations and strengthen the regional security system through the development of relations among the land forces in the Indo-Pacific region.

Apart from participating in the conference, the army chief would hold bilateral meetings with other army chiefs and other high-ranking military officials from different countries and discuss various issues of mutual cooperation.

This is his third official visit to the US after becoming the chief.

In September 2021, the army chief went to the US on a week-long visit to join the 12th biannual Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference taken at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Oahu in Hawaii with chiefs of armies from around the Indo-Pacific region.

In April 2022, General Shafiuddin also visited the US at the invitation to meet US army high officials including army chief of staff and chief of national guard in Pentagon of Washington DC and officials at the defence secretary office.

General Shafiuddin participated in a roundtable on South Asian Regional Security, and met the leading personnel at the Department of Safety and Security, Department of Operational Support and Department of Political and Peace building Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters in the US.

LANPAC on their website states that the Association of the United States Army’s 2023 LANPAC Symposium and Exposition is a world-class, international event highlighting the role of land forces in the Indo-Pacific theater and their contributions to the joint force in peace and war.

The strategic location of Hawaii brings together government and industry representatives from their allies in the Indo-Pacific theater, it added.