General Mohammed Abdul Mubeen, Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff, at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart, arrives in Sri Lanka on Wednesday (23) on a five-day goodwill visit.
General Abdul Mubeen, accompanied by Mrs Begum Syeda Sharifa Mubeen and a few more senior officers is scheduled to call on His Excellency, the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mr D.M Jayaratne, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L Peiris, Secretary Defence Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa, High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke, Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya and Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake during his stay in Sri Lanka.
As part of the itinerary during his stay, General Abdul Mubeen is scheduled to visit archaeological sites at Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Kandy, Peradeniya Botanical Garden, Sri Dalada Maligawa, Pinnawala Elephant orphanage, Diyatalawa Sri Lanka Military Academy (SLMA) and address the student officers at Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) at Sapugaskanda.
General Abdul Mubeen’s slated address to the DSCSC is expected to touch on a wide range of international and regional issues of military importance and his own experience.
A special Guard Turn Out and a Guard of Honour, accorded by troops of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment, salutes General Abdul Mubeen on his arrival at the Army Headquarters premises on Thursday (24) before he calls on the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya at the Commander’s Secretariat.
On the sidelines of the main programme, Mrs Begum Syeda Sharifa Mubeen, the spouse of the visiting Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff, is to be welcomed at a reception, organized by the Seva Vanitha Army Branch (SVAB) at its head office where a special memento is to be presented to her by Mrs Manjulika Jayasuriya, SVAB President as a token of goodwill after the visiting lady receives a brief on SVAB roles and tasks.
General Mohammed Abdul Mubeen was commissioned in the Regiment of Infantry of Bangladesh Army on 30 November 1976. Besides serving in various capacities at the battalion level, General Mubeen commanded two Infantry Battalions and an Infantry Brigade. At the staff level, he served as Brigade Major (Operation Staff) in an Independent Infantry Brigade Headquarters, General Staff Officer Grade One (Operation Staff) in Infantry Division Headquarters and in Bangladesh Military Academy, Private Secretary to the Chief of Army Staff and Director of Military Training Directorate at the Army Headquarters.
The General also held the important appointment of Director General of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and Principal Staff Officer (PSO), Prime Minister’s Office, Armed Forces Division (AFD). He was Commandant of the Defence Services Command & Staff College. General Mubeen is a graduate of both Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) and National Defence College (NDC) at Mirpur, Dhaka. He has commanded two Infantry Divisions as the General Officer Commanding (GOC). In the international platform, the General rendered his invaluable service as a peacekeeper in the capacity of Chief of Staff (Northern Region) in United Nations Operations in Mozambique (ONUMUZ).
In his eventful professional career, General Mubeen has successfully completed various training curricula from China and India. Besides, he has attended numerous seminars, conferences, workshops, etc both at home and abroad. The General is a widely traveled person who visited China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Mozambique, Malaysia, Nepal, Indonesia, Canada, Russia, Switzerland, South Africa, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, United States of America, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. General Mubeen has assumed the office of the Chief of the Army Staff, Bangladesh Army on 15 June 2009. The General is married to Begum Syeda Sharifa Khanom. They are proud parents of two sons and a daughter. The General’s eldest son is a third generation army officer following his father and grandfather. A veteran member of the Army Hockey team in his early career, General Mubeen enjoys playing golf and has a keen interest in all games and sports.
