IndiaTheNews Exclusive: Why are India and Bangladesh suddenly insisting on increasing defense ties?

This week in IndiaTheNews News Network’s special program Shaurya Path, we asked Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) whether India and Bangladesh have reviewed defense ties. How do you see it? In response, he said that India constantly emphasizes on deepening relations with its neighboring countries. He said the two sides discussed various aspects of defense ties at the fifth annual defense dialogue held in Dhaka. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Defense Secretary Giridhar Armane, while the Bangladeshi delegation was led by Lt. Gen. Walker-uz-Zaman, the ‘Principal Staff Officer’ of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh. In this conversation, both sides discussed the importance of the future direction of relations between the armed forces of the two countries.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that the Indian Defense Ministry has informed in its statement that the ongoing defense cooperation activities between the two countries were reviewed during the meeting and both sides expressed satisfaction over the increasing defense cooperation activities. According to the statement, the ongoing bilateral exercises were discussed in the talks and both sides agreed to increase the complexity of these exercises. He said both countries acknowledged that “fruitful talks” took place and stressed that both countries are keen to maintain ties based on common understandings reached in the talks. He said that the armed forces of both the countries are keen on bilateral cooperation in many fields and the increased connectivity is a positive sign for the future of relations between the two countries.

Brig Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that apart from this, the military services of India and Bangladesh held the 3rd Tri-Services Officers Talks (TSST) at the officer level, in which Bangladesh acknowledged India’s continued cooperation in training of its armed forces. Did. The TSST was co-chaired by Brigadier General Husain Muhammad Mashiur Rahman, Chief of Operations and Planning Directorate of the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division, and Air Vice Marshal Ashish Vohra of India. He said that in this context the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh should be seen which has said that the continuous Indian cooperation for the training of Bangladesh Armed Forces is very clear. The statement said that many personnel of Bangladesh’s Army, Navy and Air Force are trained at various Indian institutions and Bangladesh also hosts training for personnel of India’s armed forces every year. At the same time, both the armed forces work together at various levels in UN peacekeeping missions. The statement noted that Bangladesh’s military and security ties with India have witnessed remarkable progress in recent years, taking bilateral cooperation and friendship to a new high.

Brig Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that the 3rd TSST was held two days after both the countries held the 5th Defense Dialogue in the capital of Bangladesh. Bangladesh was to host the first TSST in 2021, while the second was to be held in India in 2022. He said the talks mainly focused on military cooperation, training and bilateral defense issues.