Visitng Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat led a four member delegation to meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh Navy chief Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed, Armed Forces Division Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman and Bangladesh Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Abu Esrar at BAF headquarters.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, the PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the prime minister had gratefully recalled the Indian army’s contribution in Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
During the meeting, Hasina emphasised the importance of cooperation between the two countries in nuclear power projects.
Rawat said: “We value our friendship with Bangladesh and we deal everything with equal status. Size of the country doesn’t matter here.”
Regarding the ongoing joint cycling expedition of the two countries, Rawat said the two armies have very excellent relations.
He stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between the Bangladesh and India armies, adding that the two armies have equal status in all fields.
He also praised the execution of the land boundary agreement between Bangladesh and India.
A four-member delegation led by Gen Rawat also met with Bangladesh Navy chief Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed at the navy headquarters in Banani, Armed Forces Division Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman at AFD office in Dhaka Cantonment and Bangladesh Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Abu Esrar at BAF headquarters.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release signed by Md Nur Islam, assistant director at the ISPR Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, the delegates and hosts expressed their hopes of taking the cordial relationship between the two countries further and stressed the need to maintain bilateral cooperation in the training of military members, as well as in terms of improving their professional expertise.
The meetings were also attended by the defence attache of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, the defence attache of the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi and other high officials.
The naval chief, air force chief and the PSO-AFD also remembered the members of Indian armed forces who died in 1971 Liberation War with reverence and expressed profound gratitude for their sacrifice.
At the naval headquarters, Assistant Chief (Operations) of Naval Staff M Makbu Hossain welcomed Gen Bipin Rawat and the other delegates.
