Bangladesh-India defence cooperation

[Amit Sahani]

As an Indian I feel Bangladesh is our closest neighbour not just physically but politically also. Its economy is only second to India's own and its developing rapidly in to an important powerhouse economy of Asia. I'd like the Indian government itself to design a pro-active foreign policy that recognises the greatness of Bangladesh as an important if not equal partner of India in security, defence, economic, political, cultural cooperations.

We are connected in history, let us grow stronger together to harness our strengths, fight our threats together.

[Amit Sahani]

During Sheikh Hasina's four-day visit to New Delhi in April 2017, Bangladesh and India signed two defence agreements, the first such agreements between India and any of its neighbours. Under the agreements, the militaries of the two countries will conduct joint exercises and training. India will help Bangladesh set up manufacturing and service centres for defence platforms that both countries possess with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in defence manufacturing in Bangladesh, and will also provide the Bangladesh military with expert training, and technical and logistic support. India also extended its first ever defence-related line of credit to a neighbouring country, by providing Bangladesh with $500 million to purchase defence equipment.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-to-sign-two-major-defence-deals-with-bangladesh/articleshow/58068508.cms

[Girls' Generation]

Last time Indian commandos' marksmanship was chaotic

India-Bangladesh joint exercise 'SAMPRITI-IX' to be conducted in Meghalaya from Feb 3
ANI | General News | Last Updated at January 30 2020 20:55 IST
The ninth edition of joint military training exercise between India-Bangladesh -- SAMPRITI-IX will be conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya from February 3 to February 16.
"As part of the ongoing Indo-Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI-IX is being conducted at UMROI, Meghalaya, India from February 3 to February 16, 2020," a defence ministry release said.
The statement stressed that Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the ninth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.
"During the joint military exercise SAMPRITI-IX, a Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a Field Training Exercise (FTX) will be conducted. For both the CPX and FTX, a scenario where both nations are working together in a Counter-Terrorism environment will be simulated under the UN Charter," it said.
The FTX curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other's organizational structure and tactical drills.
Subsequently, joint tactical exercise will be conducted wherein the battle drills of both the armies will be practiced. The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter-Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment.
According to the statement, in addition, to understand each other at the tactical level, greater cultural understanding will be emphasized to strengthen military trust and cooperation between two nations.

Link:  https://wap.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/india-bangladesh-joint-exercise-sampriti-ix-to-be-conducted-in-meghalaya-from-feb-3-120013001614_1.html

[Legionair]

On 1/26/2020 at 11:19 AM, Amit Sahani said:

During Sheikh Hasina's four-day visit to New Delhi in April 2017, Bangladesh and India signed two defence agreements, the first such agreements between India and any of its neighbours. Under the agreements, the militaries of the two countries will conduct joint exercises and training. India will help Bangladesh set up manufacturing and service centres for defence platforms that both countries possess with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in defence manufacturing in Bangladesh, and will also provide the Bangladesh military with expert training, and technical and logistic support. India also extended its first ever defence-related line of credit to a neighbouring country, by providing Bangladesh with $500 million to purchase defence equipment.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-to-sign-two-major-defence-deals-with-bangladesh/articleshow/58068508.cms

Since the love affair is so high I wonder why India gave kilo class sub to Myanmar and direct or indirectly supports Myanmar over Bangladesh !! So far no strong words for Rohingya genocide either. Supporting Bangladesh wholeheartedly can be a wise move. No buts or ifs. 

[Darth Nihilus]

On 2/1/2020 at 5:14 PM, Legionair said:

Since the love affair is so high I wonder why India gave kilo class sub to Myanmar and direct or indirectly supports Myanmar over Bangladesh !! So far no strong words for Rohingya genocide either. Supporting Bangladesh wholeheartedly can be a wise move. No buts or ifs. 

Trust me if Bangladesh was predominantly hindu, India would go to Hell and beyond to help us. Their politics has mostly been religion based recently and if it goes on, it'll destroy the country. Believe it or not, a unified and secular India is better for Bangladesh than a divided one.

[Salted Cola]

1 hour ago, Darth Nihilus said:

Trust me if Bangladesh was predominantly hindu, India would go to Hell and beyond to help us. Their politics has mostly been religion based recently and if it goes on, it'll destroy the country. Believe it or not, a unified and secular India is better for Bangladesh than a divided one.

India was never secular, the repeated assaults and pogroms against minority communities is proof of this. 

Bangladesh was and is the only secular country in the region. The Bangali culture is one of mutual respect and love unlike some others in the region.

[Aparajita Banerjee]

Armies of India, Bangladesh Begin Military Exercise in Indian Northeast
The exercise will run through February 16, 2020, and is in its ninth iteration.

The Indian Army and Bangladesh Army began a military exercise on Monday. Known as Sampriti-IX, the exercise is expected to run for nearly two weeks, concluding on February 16. This year’s iteration is the ninth of the Sampriti series of exercises between the two South Asian neighbors.

Sampriti-IX began at Umroi in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya. The exercise will involve an Indian Army company and more than 160 Bangladesh Army personnel, including 31 officers. According to the Indian Army, the exercise will be focused primarily on counter-terrorism operations. Both sides will work to operate in mountainous and jungle terrain scenarios.

The exercise will be divided into command post exercise and field training exercise components. The two will be conducted at the same time. One of the objectives of this year’s exercise is increasing interoperability between the two armies in joint operations. The exercise will also include a joint tactical component.

“Both armies would familiarize each other in various tactical drills and procedures,” an Indian Army statement noted. “Soldiers from both the armies will then graduate to joint tactical operations like Cordon and Search, Raid and House Clearance Drills,” the statement added.

Military and defense cooperation between India and Bangladesh has grown in recent years. After coming into office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated a “neighborhood first” foreign policy approach, which prioritize New Delhi’s ties with its immediate neighbors.

Historic ties between India and Bangladesh go back to the latter’s founding in 1971. The Indian Army played a role in supporting Bangladesh independence fighters who were at the time seeking to liberate what was East Pakistan; with Indian assistance, Bangladesh became an independent country.

India has sought to cultivate close security ties with the Bangladesh government amid concerns about insurgent groups in its northeast, some of whom operate along the border between the two countries.

The two countries share a long, porous border that runs for more than 4,000 kilometers. A second Indian Army statement said that the latest Sampriti exercise would build “military trust” between the two countries.

The latest iteration of the Sampriti series of military exercises comes after bilateral ties between Dhaka and New Delhi deteriorated after India’s adoption of a new citizenship law that critics have said favored non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh (and other neighboring countries of India).

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the law—and India’s implementation of a separate National Register of Citizens in the northeastern state of Assam—are “internal mattes” of India, but multiple high-level visits by Bangladeshi officials to India were called off after India’s parliament adopted the law, known as the Citizenship Amendment Act.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/armies-of-india-bangladesh-begin-military-exercise-in-indian-northeast/

[Maisson]

Defence cooperation between Bangladesh and India seem to be limited to morning PT!

[Dark Carnage]

India wants to sell defence equipment to Bangladesh

India on Wednesday launched a promotional activity for selling defence equipment to Bangladesh.
‘India and Bangladesh have close cooperation in many diverse areas and therefore are natural partners to pursue further cooperation in the field of defence technologies,’ Indian high commissioner Riva Ganguly Das said at a seminar on Indian defence equipment in Dhaka.
Representatives from twelve different Indian firms participated in the seminar organised by High Commission of India, according to a press release.
Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, who was chief guest at the seminar, said the seminar provided an opportunity for defence manufacturers from India in developing fruitful partnerships with them [in Bangladesh].
The seminar was held as a part of Indian efforts to export defence equipment to Bangladesh initially under a line of credit extended by India, officials said.
Senior military and civil officials participated in the seminar held two weeks before an official visit of Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and four weeks before an official visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Shringla is scheduled to visit Dhaka on March 2 to set grounds for an official visit of the Indian prime minister scheduled for March 16 to 18.
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar requested Bangladesh to utilise a line of credit extended by India for purchasing military equipment, in a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen on August 20 in Dhaka.
‘They requested [us] to use the memorandum of understanding signed on $500 million line of credit extended by India [to Bangladesh] for defence purchase,’ Momen told journalists at his office after the meeting.
‘We are yet to buy anything under the defence MoU,’ Momen said, adding that the Armed Forces Division was working on the matter.
The MoU was signed during prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017 on the $500 million Indian loan for buying military equipment under suppliers credit system.

[Salted Cola]

4 hours ago, Dark Carnage said:

India wants to sell defence equipment to Bangladesh

India on Wednesday launched a promotional activity for selling defence equipment to Bangladesh.
‘India and Bangladesh have close cooperation in many diverse areas and therefore are natural partners to pursue further cooperation in the field of defence technologies,’ Indian high commissioner Riva Ganguly Das said at a seminar on Indian defence equipment in Dhaka.
Representatives from twelve different Indian firms participated in the seminar organised by High Commission of India, according to a press release.
Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, who was chief guest at the seminar, said the seminar provided an opportunity for defence manufacturers from India in developing fruitful partnerships with them [in Bangladesh].
The seminar was held as a part of Indian efforts to export defence equipment to Bangladesh initially under a line of credit extended by India, officials said.
Senior military and civil officials participated in the seminar held two weeks before an official visit of Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and four weeks before an official visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Shringla is scheduled to visit Dhaka on March 2 to set grounds for an official visit of the Indian prime minister scheduled for March 16 to 18.
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar requested Bangladesh to utilise a line of credit extended by India for purchasing military equipment, in a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen on August 20 in Dhaka.
‘They requested [us] to use the memorandum of understanding signed on $500 million line of credit extended by India [to Bangladesh] for defence purchase,’ Momen told journalists at his office after the meeting.
‘We are yet to buy anything under the defence MoU,’ Momen said, adding that the Armed Forces Division was working on the matter.
The MoU was signed during prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017 on the $500 million Indian loan for buying military equipment under suppliers credit system.

No need! They don't have anything to offer that we could want and the things they do have that we could probably want, they won't sell so no need.

[Aparajita Banerjee]

I pray good sense prevails with the Bangladesh armed services, respective members of the Bangladesh government to never buy major Indian defence hardware.

• Bangladesh will look weak internationally as a cuckold nation
• Indians will use the opportunity to pressurize, subdue Bangladesh
• There will be presence of Indian military personnel in Bangladesh to "support" the hardware, offer "trainings"
• The quality of Indian made defence hardware speaks for itself because India is one of the largest weapons importing nations today
• Bangladesh might not be able to use the weapons to good effect
• It will infuriate China because Bangladesh is not importing very much from them these days

I say avoid India at all costs, lower dependence on China, increase cooperation with European nations, build own nation's defence industries.

[Aparajita Banerjee]

Indian Air Force MiG-29 crashed

 

[Kamikaze]

Ready To Share Military Hardware With Bangladesh: Indian Diplomat

Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Bangladesh has become India's largest development partner in the world and India's largest trade partner in the region.

Dhaka: 

India is ready to share with Bangladesh any military hardware being manufactured in the country for India's defence forces, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday as he underlined the potential for robust defence cooperation between the two neighbours.

Addressing a seminar at the Bangladesh Institute for International Studies (BIISS), Mr Shringla said Bangladesh has become India's largest development partner in the world and India's largest trade partner in the region.

Over 75 separate dialogue mechanisms connect our Governments and people in an effort to build the strongest possible framework for a permanent partnership.

Mr Shringla, a former Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, is in Bangladesh on his first visit to the country.

He said Indo-Bangladesh partnership will reach its true potential when the two sides equally recognise that their interests converge and there is a mutuality of benefit.

"This is why we believe that our ongoing efforts to develop a robust partnership between our militaries emphasises trust of a high order. Especially since we are willing to share with you any and all military hardware being manufactured in India for use by our military", the top Indian diplomat said amidst China making efforts to sell weapons, including submarines, to Bangladesh.

Mr Shringla said India also welcomes the opportunity for Indian officers to train at premier military institutions of Bangladesh, just as the Indian side is ready to open military training institutes at all levels – from officer cadet training to specialised higher command training – to Bangladesh.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-ready-to-share-military-hardware-with-bangladesh-indian-diplomat-2188717

[Maisson]

Three Indian LoC-1 projects crawling even after a decade
The disbursement is very insignificant as only $565.76 million out of $862 million has been disbursed under the first LoC which was signed on August 7, 2010

Three railway projects under the first Indian Line of Credit (LoC) signed a decade ago have not been completed yet because of a delay in loan processing and approval procedure by the Indian authorities.

The sluggishness of the Indian contractor agency has also been hampering the implementation of the projects, said the Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line Project director.

These three railway projects got $510.12 million from the Indian authorities.

A recent LoC review meeting decided that the deadline and estimated costs of the projects need to be revised due to the slow progress. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister's Office chaired by Dr Mashiur Rahman on February 6, 2020. The minutes of the meeting were published on February 19.

Multiple meetings had been held earlier between officials of Bangladesh and India to identify implementation challenges in the projects, but these did not produce any significant results.

Under LoC 1, only 12 projects out of 15 have been completed so far because India has disbursed 66.63 percent of its committed funding.

So far, $565.76 million out of $862 million has been disbursed under the first LoC which was signed on August 7, 2010.

The Bangladesh government signed an agreement with the Exim Bank of India for $1 billion under the first LoC of which $200 million was declared as a grant by the Indian government. Later, India provided $62 million as an additional fund from the initial amount.

However, India has disbursed only 2.38 percent of its committed fund from the second Line of Credit, and 0.03 percent from the third one.

So far, only $47.67 million out of $2 billion under the second LoC, which was approved in 2016, has been disbursed.

The third LoC was signed in October 2017 and only $1.40 million out of $4.5 billion has been disbursed for it.

Incomplete projects of the first Indian LoC
Railway officials say the construction of the Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line Project is being delayed due to the slow approval processing and the sluggishness of the Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON).

The project, which has two parts, started in 2010 under the first LoC. The first part consists of the construction of rail tracks, a dam, and some civil work. The other part consists of several major and minor bridges, including a bridge over the Rupsa River.

However, all construction in the project has been running behind schedule.

At present, the piling of the middle pillar of the Rupsa bridge is going on. Installation of the main span is expected to complete by September 2021. Officials said the project proposal needs further revision.

The financial progress of the project is about 63 percent and the physical progress is about 61.90 percent.

Ramjan Ali, project director of the Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line Project, told The Business Standard, "Right now the main problem in the project is the Indian contractor agency IRCON. They do not work regularly. In the last fiscal year, they did some work reluctantly, and this year they are doing the same. The railway secretary reprimanded the contractor agency on Sunday for their sluggishness."

Another incomplete project under the first LoC is the construction of the 3rd and 4th dual-gauge train lines on the Dhaka-Tongi route, and the doubling of the dual-gauge line on the Tongi-Joydevpur route. This project started in July 2012.

Railway officials said the financial progress of the project was 22.38 percent and the physical progress was 28.50 percent till December 2019.

"The main work of the project started last year. The project was delayed because of the lengthy approval process of the Indian authorities and of the Exim Bank of India. Now the deadline for the project has to be revised," said Ramjan Ali.

Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section project begun in July 2011. As of December 2019, the financial progress of the project was 14.64 and the physical progress was 16.30 percent.

Railway officials said the contractor firm is yet to mobilise the plants and equipment of the project.

Second and third Indian LoCs
Only two projects out of 15 under the second LoC have completed. Those are the Procurement of Trucks and the Procurement of Double Decker and Single Decker AC and non-AC Buses.

The two ongoing projects are Procurement of Equipment and Machinery for Road Infrastructure, and Establishment of IT/Hi-Tech Park at District Level (12 districts).

Nine projects are in the procurement stage and two are in the planning stage under the second LoC agreement.

Fifteen projects have been identified under the third LoC. Among them, three are in the procurement stage and 12 are in the planning stage.

Construction of New Dual Gauge Rail Line from Bogura to Shaheed M Monsur Ali Station, Development of Rail and Road Based ICD at Ishwardi, Payra Port Multipurpose Terminal, Upgrading of Mongla Port, Bay Container Terminal in Chattogram Port, Establishment of Special Economic Zone (Indian Zone) at Mirsarai, Infrastructure Development for Power Evacuation Facilities of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant are set to be implemented under the third Indian LoC.

[Rezwan12]

India for robust military-to-military engagements with Bangladesh

Dhaka expresses concern over Delhi violence

Shahidul Islam Chowdhury | Published: 00:30, Mar 03,2020 | Updated: 00:41, Mar 03,2020

India is eyeing to develop a robust military-to-military engagement with Bangladesh which would include selling defence hardware manufactured in the country, Indian foreign secretary Harsha Vardhan Shringla said on Monday in Dhaka.

‘Our on-going efforts to develop a robust partnership between our militaries emphasise trust of a higher order,’ Shringla said, adding that especially since we are willing to share with you any and all military hardware manufactured in India.

India is also open to facilitating training opportunities  for officers at all levels in premier military intuitions in both the countries, he said while speaking at a seminar on Bangladesh-India relations on the first day of his two-day official visit to Bangladesh.

He claimed that the process of National Register of Citizens in Assam and introduction of Citizenship Amendment Act were internal matters of India, and ‘therefore there will be no implications for the government and people of Bangladesh.’

On signing of instruments on sharing of waters of seven common rivers, including River Teesta, Shringla said the two sides were updating data on water flows and agreements were expected to be signed by this year.

The issue on signing an agreement on Teesta ‘is very much on the table,’ he said and added, ‘The water secretaries of the two countries would meet soon.’

On Rohingya issues, he stressed the need for ‘diverse stakeholders to lower the rhetoric and find practical and pragmatic solutions’ to offer a conducive environment to encourage displaced persons to return to their homes in Rakhine State of Myanmar at the earliest in a safe, secure and sustainable manner.

Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, second from right, prime minister’s adviser Gowher Rizvi, centre, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das, extreme left, BIISS chairman M Fazlul Karim, second from left, and BIISS acting director general Colonel Sheikh Masun Ahmed, extreme right, attend a seminar on Bangladesh and India: A Promising Future at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Monday. — New Age photo

 

While replying to another question on using non-lethal weapon on the borders between the two countries, which was committed by successive Indian prime ministers, Shringla defended the use of lethal weapons, claiming that criminal activities take place on both sides of the borders and border security forces require to defend the border as well as contain the criminal activities.

He also claimed, without any specific statistics, that the ratio of killing of Bangladesh and Indian nationals along the border was fifty-fifty. 

Twelve Indian nationals were killed and 83 members of Border Security Force were injured in 2019, he claimed.

Prime minister’s international affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi was chief guest at the seminar jointly organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and Indian high commission in Dhaka.  

Indian foreign secretary Harsha Vardhan Shringla separately called on prime minister Sheikh Hasina, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and roads and bridges minister Obidul Quader.

Foreign minister Momen told reporters, barring any details, that during the meeting with Shringla, Bangladesh’s concern over the on-going violence in New Delhi was raised.

The Indian foreign secretary also held a one-on-one meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen before a delegation-level meeting at the foreign ministry.

They discussed preparations of visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh on March 17 while touching on other bilateral issues.

Several bilateral instruments, including one on creating an elephant-passage between the two countries, are expected to be signed during the Indian prime minister visit, Momen told journalists after the meeting.

On the recent communal violence in New Delhi, the Bangladesh side stressed the need that the communal violence issues should be properly addressed. Shringla said the Indian authorities were investigating the matter.

The Indian foreign secretary is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Tuesday.

 

http://www.newagebd.net/article/101112/india-for-robust-military-to-military-engagements-with-bangladesh

[Dark Carnage]

India Willing to Share All Military Hardware It Makes With Bangladesh, Says Foreign Secretary Shringla

Addressing a seminar at the Bangladesh Institute for International Studies (BIISS), Harshvardhan Shringla said Bangladesh has become India's largest development partner in the world and India's largest trade partner in the region.

India is ready to share with Bangladesh any military hardware being manufactured in the country for India's defence forces, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday as he underlined the potential for robust defence cooperation between the two neighbours.

Addressing a seminar at the Bangladesh Institute for International Studies (BIISS) here, Shringla said Bangladesh has become India's largest development partner in the world and India's largest trade partner in the region.

Over 75 separate dialogue mechanisms connect our Governments and people in an effort to build the strongest possible framework for a permanent partnership.

Shringla, a former Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, is in Bangladesh on his first visit to the country.

He said Indo-Bangladesh partnership will reach its true potential when the two sides equally recognise that their interests converge and there is a mutuality of benefit.

"This is why we believe that our ongoing efforts to develop a robust partnership between our militaries emphasises trust of a high order. Especially since we are willing to share with you any and all military hardware being manufactured in India for use by our military, the top Indian diplomat said amidst China making efforts to sell weapons, including submarines, to Bangladesh.

Shringla said India also welcomes the opportunity for Indian officers to train at premier military institutions of Bangladesh, just as the Indian side is ready to open military training institutes at all levels from officer cadet training to specialised higher command training to Bangladesh.

[Kamikaze]

Bangladesh mustn’t be dependent on India’s defence hardware

INDIA’S plan for the installation of meshed steel fences in at least 58 more places within 150 yards of the zero line along the border with Bangladesh, as India took up the issue at a meeting between India and Bangladesh’s foreign secretaries in Dhaka on Monday, is ominous. India has harped about the issue several times, with the foreign secretary having talked about the issue of fencing along a 165-kilometre stretch at a seminar on the same day. India earlier took up the issue at a meeting of the home ministers in August 2019 and at another meeting of the border guard chiefs in December that year. What ‘friendly’ India, which has since April 2017 claimed its bilateral relations with Bangladesh ‘far beyond a strategic partnership’, plans with the erection of meshed steel fencing is unfriendly as it so does in its western frontiers with Pakistan, which India thinks is a hostile country. While this would constitute India’s violation of the international law that allows no structure at a minimum of 150 metres from the actual border, it would also dishonour the agreement that Bangladesh made in December 2009 to allow fencing within 150 yards from the zero line in certain patches where population extends right up to the zero line provided it is necessitated by ‘humanitarian concerns and geographical realities.’

While India appears to force a wholesale use of Bangladesh’s 2009 ‘consent’,   India plans to replace, as the Indian media have reported, barbed-wire fences already erected along the border with meshed steel fences. With such an unfriendly attitude towards Bangladesh being typical of India, especially issues of Teesta water sharing and the killing of unarmed Bangladeshis by India’s border guards having not been attended to, it should come with reasons for worry when India is reported to build ‘a robust military-to-military engagement’ with Bangladesh, which would include the sales of defence hardware manufactured in India. India’s foreign secretary seeks to say that the ‘ongoing efforts’ to develop a partnership between the military of the two countries emphasise ‘the trust of the highest order’, which India’s other actions regarding unresolved prickly issues and the move for the erection of meshed steel fences belie. All this means that India wants Bangladesh to be a user of Indian military hardware by way of purchase. But a hostile India, with which Bangladesh has borders stretching 4,156 kilometres, with the rest stretching 271 kilometres with Myanmar, remains the principal ‘threat perception’ for Bangladesh. In such a state of threat perception, it would be dangerous and unwise to enter into any defence agreement by way of which Bangladesh should use and get used to the defence hardware of India, which would eventually make Bangladesh dependent on India’s military in cases of any perceived conflicts with India.

It is, therefore, imperative for Bangladesh, first, not to agree to India’s plan for the installation of meshed steel fences along the border, which would also be in deviation from the Indo-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement 1974 which restricted any construction within 150 yards of the zero line. Bangladesh must in no way, then, agree to any agreement with India regarding the use of Indian military hardware. Any such move now could prove doubly jeopardising for Bangladesh in future.

[Dark Carnage]

33 minutes ago, Kamikaze said:

Bangladesh mustn’t be dependent on India’s defence hardware

INDIA’S plan for the installation of meshed steel fences in at least 58 more places within 150 yards of the zero line along the border with Bangladesh, as India took up the issue at a meeting between India and Bangladesh’s foreign secretaries in Dhaka on Monday, is ominous. India has harped about the issue several times, with the foreign secretary having talked about the issue of fencing along a 165-kilometre stretch at a seminar on the same day. India earlier took up the issue at a meeting of the home ministers in August 2019 and at another meeting of the border guard chiefs in December that year. What ‘friendly’ India, which has since April 2017 claimed its bilateral relations with Bangladesh ‘far beyond a strategic partnership’, plans with the erection of meshed steel fencing is unfriendly as it so does in its western frontiers with Pakistan, which India thinks is a hostile country. While this would constitute India’s violation of the international law that allows no structure at a minimum of 150 metres from the actual border, it would also dishonour the agreement that Bangladesh made in December 2009 to allow fencing within 150 yards from the zero line in certain patches where population extends right up to the zero line provided it is necessitated by ‘humanitarian concerns and geographical realities.’

While India appears to force a wholesale use of Bangladesh’s 2009 ‘consent’,   India plans to replace, as the Indian media have reported, barbed-wire fences already erected along the border with meshed steel fences. With such an unfriendly attitude towards Bangladesh being typical of India, especially issues of Teesta water sharing and the killing of unarmed Bangladeshis by India’s border guards having not been attended to, it should come with reasons for worry when India is reported to build ‘a robust military-to-military engagement’ with Bangladesh, which would include the sales of defence hardware manufactured in India. India’s foreign secretary seeks to say that the ‘ongoing efforts’ to develop a partnership between the military of the two countries emphasise ‘the trust of the highest order’, which India’s other actions regarding unresolved prickly issues and the move for the erection of meshed steel fences belie. All this means that India wants Bangladesh to be a user of Indian military hardware by way of purchase. But a hostile India, with which Bangladesh has borders stretching 4,156 kilometres, with the rest stretching 271 kilometres with Myanmar, remains the principal ‘threat perception’ for Bangladesh. In such a state of threat perception, it would be dangerous and unwise to enter into any defence agreement by way of which Bangladesh should use and get used to the defence hardware of India, which would eventually make Bangladesh dependent on India’s military in cases of any perceived conflicts with India.

It is, therefore, imperative for Bangladesh, first, not to agree to India’s plan for the installation of meshed steel fences along the border, which would also be in deviation from the Indo-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement 1974 which restricted any construction within 150 yards of the zero line. Bangladesh must in no way, then, agree to any agreement with India regarding the use of Indian military hardware. Any such move now could prove doubly jeopardising for Bangladesh in future.

Finally some bold statement in the mainstream media.Any idea about its writer?

[Rezwan12]

Bangladesh, India start joint naval exercise at Bay today

Staff Correspondent | Published: 10:27, Oct 03,2020

Bangladesh and India started a three-day naval exercise in the northern Bay of Bengal on Saturday, according to diplomatic and defence sources.

Bangladesh defence officials described the engagement as a coordinated maritime patrol along the international maritime boundary line by warships of the two counties.

Two officials of Bangladesh Navy headquarters and Inter Services Public Relations Directorate and a diplomatic source in New Delhi confirmed about holding of the exercise and patrol.

Bangladesh has deployed two warships — BNS Abu Bakr, a guided-missile frigate, and BNS Prottoy, a guided-missile corvette — in the exercise, a Bangladesh Navy official said on Friday evening.

India has deployed two warships — INS Kiltan, an anti-submarine warfare corvette, and INS Khukri, a guided-missile corvette — as well as maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters in the exercise, according to a Times of India report with reference to Indian Navy.

It is the second edition of naval exercise in the northern Bay of Bengal. The first of its kind was held in 2019.

‘The aim of the exercise is to develop interoperability and joint operational skills through conducting a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations,’ Indian Navy spokesperson commander Vivek Madhwal said.

‘The exercise will include surface warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations among other things,’ he said.  

‘Conducting such coordinated patrolling will strengthen the understanding between the two navies. Besides, measures will be taken to stop illegal activities in the region,’ said the Indian official.

The Outlook India described it as a mega naval exercise. 

India had steadily stepped-up military ties with Bangladesh, which ‘incidentally acquired’ its first-ever diesel-electric submarines from China couple of years ago, Times of India report said.

India, on its part, has been trying to counter Chinese inroads into its neighbourhood, ranging from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius to Myanmar to Nepal, according to Indian report.

Bangladesh has allowed India, under an agreement, to establish a coastal surveillance radar system along its own coastline and keep an eye on the shared Indo-Bangla coast.

The agreement was signed between the two countries during the official visit of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to India in October, 2019.

 

https://www.newagebd.net/article/117960/bangladesh-india-start-joint-naval-exercise-at-bay-today

[Rezwan12]

02:39 PM, November 10, 2020 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:46 PM, November 10, 2020

India Army gifts 20 trained horses and 10 dogs to Bangladesh

Star Online Report

The Indian Army has gifted 20 trained horses and 10 dogs to the Bangladesh Army.

Indian Army's Major General NS Noyandev Singh handed over the horses and dogs to Bangladesh Army's Major General Md Humayun Kabir through Benapole port today, our local correspondent reports.

The horses will be deployed during guard of honour ceremonies and the dogs will be deployed in identifying criminals at checkposts.

Border Guard Bangladesh-49 Battalion Commanding Officer Lt Col Selim Reza said that the service animals were kept first at Chasara Cantonment at Kolkata.

Later around 11:00am today, the animals were brought to Petrapole BSF camp and handed to BGB, he said.

Earlier on December 7 last year, India gave 10 trained dogs to Bangladesh as gifts.

 

https://www.thedailystar.net/country/news/india-army-gifts-20-trained-horses-and-10-dogs-bangladesh-1992565

 

[Rezwan12]

10 November, 2020 08:47:55 PM

India gifts 20 military horses, 10 mine detection dogs to Bangladesh

UNB, Dhaka

The Indian Army has gifted 20 trained military horses and 10 mine detection dogs to Bangladesh Army. 

The gift was part of strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries in general and between the two forces in particular. 

These equines and canines were trained by the Remount and Veterinary Corps of Indian Army.  

The Indian Army has also trained Bangladesh Army personnel for handling these specialist dogs and horses, said a press release on Tuesday. 

Indian Army delegation was led by Major General Narinder Singh Khroud, Chief of Staff of Brahmastra Corps whereas the Bangladesh Army delegation was led by Major General Mohammad Humayun Kabir, who is Commanding the Jessore based Division.  

The presentation ceremony was held at Petrapole- Benapole Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Bangladesh-India border.  

Brig JS Cheema from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka was also present at the event. 

“The performance of military dogs in Indian Army has been commendable. We are always ready to extend our assistance to a friendly country like Bangladesh in issues concerning security. When it comes to security, the dogs have proven their mettle. The dogs which have been handed over, are extremely effective in mine detection and contraband items,” a senior Army official was quoted as saying in the press release. 

India’s partnership with Peoples Republic of Bangladesh stands out as a role model in the region for good neighbourly relations.  

With this gesture the bond which two countries share is expected to grow even stronger, said the press release.

 

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/255837

[Kamikaze]

https://youtu.be/mS1X0-phd7c

Our defence goods suitable for Bangladesh: India

The Indian government has expressed keenness on engaging Bangladesh in exporting and coproducing heavy defence equipment, including missiles, radars and artillery guns, according to an online discussion held on Thursday.

‘We are keen to work with Bangladesh for platforms like Akash [missiles], radars, mortars, artillery guns, ammunitions, etc,’ Indian defence ministry’s secretary on defence production Raj Kumar said at the discussion.

The defence equipment produced by India is compatible with the need for modernising the Bangladesh defence forces under the  Forces Goal 2030, he said.  

Mentioning the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries during a visit of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi in 2017 for a US$500 credit line for defence procurements, Raj Kumar said that the defence line of credit ‘is already operational.’

Defence cooperation and partnership between India and Bangladesh has made significant gains in the last few years, he said, adding that there were potentials for the two countries to engage in long-term strategic partnership in the areas of shipbuilding for both commercial and defence requirements.

The discussion was jointly organised by the High Commission of India in Bangladesh, Indian defence ministry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 

Bangladesh shipping minister Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that shipbuilding was a growing industry in the country, with a vast fleet of about 20,000 inland and coastal commercial vessels produced here in over four decades.  

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Doraiswami stressed the need for Bangladesh and India to work together to develop and leverage one another’s capacities in the areas ranging from science, shipbuilding to infrastructure.

‘The centrality of the Indo-Pacific idea and security along with growth for all the region underpins the notion of ensuring that the maritime domain remains free, open and  accessible to all for trade and commerce,’ he said.

Several officials from Bangladesh and Indian sides joined in the discussion.