New Delhi
13 February 2008
Bangladesh Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed is expected to visit
India later this month. He is likely to undertake a weeklong visit from February 24 to
March 1, sources told this newspaper.
New Delhi has not made a formal announcement yet.
It will be General Moeen Ahmed's maiden visit to India after the imposition of Emergency
in Bangladesh on January 11, 2007. He was scheduled to visit India last year but it was
deferred after floods hit Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Army is backing the existing caretaker government headed by Dr
Fakhruddin Ahmed as the Chief Adviser. The caretaker government has said that
elections will be held before the end of 2008.
The sources said that General Moeen Ahmed will be visiting at the pending invitation of
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor. The Bangladesh Army chief's visit to India will show
Dhaka's interest to interact at all levels, the sources added.
The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have all called for lifting
of emergency and holding of elections.
On February 9, British Foreign Minister David Miliband said in Dhaka that Britain wanted
a full, functioning democracy in Bangladesh as soon as possible. He told reporters on a
two-day visit to Bangladesh that democracy could not operate under a state of
emergency. He met with the representatives of the caretaker government including
General Moeen Ahmed.
Four days earlier, on February 5, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and
Central Asian Affairs of US State Department Donald Camp said in Dhaka that it would be
better for Bangladesh to withdraw the state of emergency as soon as possible and hold
an election participated by all. Camp met Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed and Army
Chief General Moeen Ahmed.
Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed and Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed
Chowdhury have visited India after the imposition of Emergency in Bangladesh. Dr
Fakhruddin Ahmed attended the 14th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation) Summit hosted by India here in April 2007. Minister of External Affairs
Pranab Mukherjee visited Dhaka in December 2007 after a cyclone hit Bangladesh on
November 15 and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Mr Mukherjee met with Dr
Fakhruddin Ahmed and Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.
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