Today, under the 13th session of the Defense Consultative Committee (DCC), Royal Armed Forces (FAR) Inspector General and Commander of the Southern Zone, Major General Mohammed Berrid, met with US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander. Wallander is currently on a working visit to Morocco from May 17-22.
Also in attendance were U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Puneet Talwar, and the U.S. defense attaché assigned to Morocco, who were themselves accompanied by a sizeable military delegation.
During the meeting, the two officials highlighted the strength and durability of the privileged ties and strategic partnership between the USA and Morocco, the FAR General Staff said in a press release.
The two officials expressed their willingness to further develop these age-old relations based on friendship, mutual understanding, and shared trust.
Berrid and Wallander expressed satisfaction with the positive track record of bilateral military cooperation, which has seen significant progress in the conclusion of agreements and memoranda of understanding, equipment and materials acquisition, and military exercise training, such as the Morocco-USA annual joint “African Lion” exercise.
The two parties also discussed security and defense challenges in Africa, Morocco’s significant role in Peacekeeping Operations and humanitarian assistance, combating cross-border threats, and advancements in equipment acquisitions.
The DCC meeting serves as a platform for strategic dialogue where crucial regional security issues are discussed and in which outlines for future action plans with AFRICOM and the Utah National Guard are drawn, along with capacity-building projects managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the press release added.