Burmese Deputy Military Chief Visits Bangladesh

By Takaloo
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Cox'sbazar: Burmese Deputy Commander in Chief of Defense Services Lt. General Soe Win, leading a 14-member military delegation, has arrived in Bangladesh reportedly for a goodwill official visit.


Soe-win-visited-Cosxbazar-temple Lt Gen Soe Win visiting in Cox'sbazar (Photo by Narinjara)
The state-run Burmese newspaper, "The New Light of Myanmar", reported that the military delegation left for neighboring Bangladesh for a goodwill visit at the invitation of the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh, General Md. Abdul Mubeen on 22 November.

Lt. Gen. Soe Win is the second highest military official to visit Bangladesh after Burmese Air Chief Lt. Gen. Myat Hein visited the country in the last week of April this year.

The Burmese Deputy Military Chief called on the President of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman, on 23 November at Bangabhaban, the president's house in Dhaka.

According to the United News of Bangladesh, President Zillur Rahman emphasized resolving disputes, steps for road connectivity to improve trade and commercial activities, and the need for exchange of military trainings between the two neighboring countries in a meeting with Lt. Gen. Soe Win and the delegation at his house. Rahman said, "There is good relation between our two countries and this bilateral relationship should be improved gradually."

He hoped that the existing relations will be strengthened with the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Burma.

It was also learnt that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay her first official visit to Burma on December 5 at the invitation of Burmese President U Thein Sein.

The Burmese military delegation team that includes Major General Tun Nay Lin, the Commander of Western Command based in western Burma’s Arakan State, visited the Maha Theintawgree Buddhist Shrine, the main worship place of Rakhine in Cox’s Bazar, a southeastern sea resort town on the Burmese border, on 25 November.

“We received and welcomed the Burmese military chief and his delegation in the visiting to our shrine on Friday and the military chief made some offering of donations to the Buddhist monks here ”, said U Maung Kyaw Thein, the Chairman of the Maha Theintawgree Committee.

The local Rakhine or Arakanese in Cox’s Bazaar gathered at the entrance gate of shrine to welcome the Burmese high-profile military delegation on the day.

However, U San Mra Aung, who fled Burmese military persecution for his involvement in the democracy movement in Arakan State and is sheltering in Cox’s Bazaar, said the Burmese military officials visited the Rakhine Buddhist shrine in Cox’s Bazaar where most of Arakanese dissidents from Burma are sheltering, according to their policy of “one strike and two cuts”.

“They were visiting the Rakhine Buddhist shrine here for nothing more than their policy of one strike two cuts. They were coming here in name of religious offering, but with their aim to politically organize the local Rakhine who are the same race of dissidents from Arakan State in Burma”, said U San Mra Aung. 
NarinjaraNews
Copyright 2012 Arakan Today