Dhaka, London to hold first ever defence dialogue Wednesday

Bangladesh and the United Kingdom (UK) will hold a defence dialogue for the first time on Wednesday where London is looking forward to conducting the growing relationship with Dhaka on a “more strategic basis”, reports news agency UNB.

Both sides think such dialogue would “create opportunities” for broader discussions on bilateral defence and military issues, cooperation in UN peacekeeping, visits, joint exercises, training, workshops, “defence supply and procurement”, and cooperation on capabilities.

The dialogue is taking place at a time when there are emerging security concerns in various parts of the world including in Myanmar, Ukraine and Afghanistan.

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson recently said 2021 was a “good year” for Bangladesh-UK defence relations, as a Royal Navy ship sailed to Chattogram after 13 years as part of their Carrier Strike Group deployment (CSG21) to the Indo Pacific region.

The visit highlighted the bilateral defence connections, taking forward again strategic level training provided by the UK to the Bangladesh National Defence College.

“We’re looking forward to talks to put this relationship on a more strategic basis,” said the High Commissioner.

Last week, the fourth of the five C-130J transport aircraft was delivered to Bangladesh by the UK under a government to government arrangement.

A bilateral meeting was held between prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Following the meeting, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told newspersons that the UK government is keen to provide five naval ships to Bangladesh, which will help strengthen the country’s maritime security.