General Manoj Pande, India’s chief of army staff, arrived in Dhaka on Monday morning on a four-day visit at the invitation of General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army.

This is the first foreign visit by General Manoj Pande since his assumption, according to a press release of Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

The Indian Army Chief is accompanied by his spouse Archana Pande and a three-member delegation.

He is scheduled to pay courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Security Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, service Chiefs of Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, PSO Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh and meet other senior officers of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, it said.

He will also be visiting various military stations.

The Indian army chief will pay tribute to the members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces who made the supreme sacrifices during Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971 by laying wreath at the altar of Shikha Anirban at Dhaka Cantonment.

On the second day of his visit, the army chief will address the students and faculty of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur.

He will also visit Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training.

Visit of Manoj Pande will further strengthen the close and fraternal ties existing between the armed forces of the two countries, it added.