Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to be big on defence

NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh may sign a pact during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to expand bilateral defence partnership.

Officials said both sides are looking forward to expanding security ties as part of the growing strategic partnership.

Hasina is set to arrive in India on December 17 for a four-day trip, her first official visit since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government assumed power in May 2014.

The secretary level talks in Delhi between the two sides on Monday and Tuesday will be followed by the visit of the Bangladesh Navy chief this week, a precursor to signing the defence deal.

Security and border management issues were discussed during the home secretary level talks along with the issue of counterterrorism, officials said.The last such meeting was held in November 2015 in Dhaka.

The Bangladesh Navy chief is due to visit India from December 7, a week after the visit of India’s defence minister to Dhaka.

A few ago India and Bangladesh had set a template for other countries in maritime dispute resolution through peaceful means under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. There have been suggestions on how China can follow this model to address its disputes with smaller Southeast Asian neighbours in the South China Sea region.

Bangladesh now wants to expand its partnership with the Indian Navy even as it decided to purchase two submarines from China. Areas of naval cooperation that have been proposed include option of coordinated patrolling along International Maritime Boundary Line, bilateral exercises involving the two navies, joint surveillance of Exclusive Economic Zone and cooperation in hydrography.

Hasina is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Modi on December 18 on issues including the pending Teesta water sharing pact. Since 2015 she has visited India twice, for the funeral of President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife and for BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach meets.