Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi on four-day Bangladesh visit, maritime ties on agenda

New Delhi, June 30

Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi today reached Bangladesh on a four-day official visit. Coinciding with his visit, the Bangladesh navy, signed a contract for “Made in India” 800 tonne ocean-going tug with Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.

This is the second contract this month for the GRSE that recently inked a $16.6 million (Rs 132 crore approx) deal with the Bangladesh Inland Waterways Transport Authority (BIWTA), to build a dredger.

The Navy Chief’s visit comes in the wake of the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s bilateral visit to India last week (June 21-22). The two sides had then signed agreements on strengthening ties in the maritime sphere and blue economy. Bangladesh decided to join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), a fora promoted by India for countries to work together for collaborative solutions to the common challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Ministry of Defence today said: “Admiral Tripathi’s visit is aimed at consolidating bilateral defence relations between India and Bangladesh and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation.”

The Navy Chief will hold bilateral discussions with his counterpart Admiral M Nazmul Hassan. He will also review the passing-out parade scheduled to be held at Bangladesh Naval Academy (BNA), Chittagong (now called Chattogram). Admiral Tripathi will also meet Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman and Bangladesh Air Force Chief Air Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan. Meanwhile, Indian Warship INS Ranvir will be at Chattogram for a week. It will participate in a maritime partnership exercise with the Bangladesh navy.

These developments come in the backdrop of the US attempting to have a base in the Bay of Bengal to edge out China and it’s looking at an island that is part of Bangladesh. China, on the other hand, is ramping up military facilities in Bangladesh and Myanmar. In Bangladesh, the newest addition is the upcoming submarine maintenance base and in Myanmar, an airstrip on the Coco islands, north of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has been extended with Beijing’s assistance.

Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in its March 10 report, said Bangladesh and Myanmar were among top buyers of Chinese military equipment.