US officials visit Pakistan to advance defence cooperation

• General Shields-led four-member American delegation call on senior military, civil officials

US Department of Defence’s Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organisation (JIDO) Director Lieutenant General Michael Shields led a four-member delegation on a three-day visit to Pakistan during this week.

This was General Shields’ second visit to Pakistan as the JIDO director, said a press release here on Friday. During the visit, the visiting general and the delegation met with Pakistan’s Army’s Chief of General Staff, the Director General of Military Operations, and officials from the Interior Ministry.

General Shields also met with the chairman of the Pakistan Army’s Counter Improvised Explosive Device Organisation (CIEDO) to discuss initiatives, training, and other areas of military cooperation between Pakistan and the US.

General Shields also visited the Counter IED, Explosives, and Munitions School (CEMS) at the Military College of Engineering in Risalpur. On his visit to Risalpur, the commandant of the Military College of Engineering briefed the American delegation on their efforts to train soldiers to detect and neutralize IEDs and other emerging battlefield and operational threats.

“I greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet Pakistani leaders to discuss our mutual efforts to combat the IED threat,” General Shields said. “It is a complex issue that requires all of our collective efforts. I look forward to continuing our collaboration with Pakistan and with CIEDO.”

JIDO supports a variety of counter-IED bilateral engagements and training and provides support for the Pakistani Army’s efforts to improve their counter-IED exploitation capabilities in Risalpur.