Army’s duty to defend the motherland

City Desk :
Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed on Thursday said Bangladesh Army is doing everything in contributing to achieving Bangladesh’s foreign policy and helping the country become a Sonar Bangla as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“It is our duty to defend our motherland, to maintain sovereignty of the country and we remain prepared for that. We are doing everything,” he said, reports UNB.

The army chief made the remarks while speaking at a seminar titled “Defence Diplomacy: Strategy for Bangladesh” hosted by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at its auditorium.

Mentioning Bangabandhu’s foreign policy dictum “Friendship to all, malice towards none” he said they are doing everything to implement this foreign policy

“Diplomacy is nothing but an effort to achieve national interest in any form,” said the army chief, putting emphasis on sustained economic growth with maintaining national security.

He mentioned how the army, in aid to civil power, is doing a lot of nation building activities, disaster management efforts at home and abroad and doing some internal security duties.

The army chief said wherever there is an opportunity, whether it is told and untold, they take the opportunity and do everything for the benefits of Bangladesh.

Talking about military diplomacy, he said they need to enhance the capability by putting in more resources and budget. “We know how to do it but we should have that capability to do it.”

Regarding the Myanmar issue, the army chief said some of the military leaders in Myanmar are facing international sanctions and there is a risk of putting themselves in trouble.

“To make one friend happy, we cannot antagonize another. There are dynamics that we have to look into. Practical connotation has also been taken into consideration.