India and Bangladesh strengthened defence ties with new naval contracts

India and Bangladesh have signed a deal to boost bilateral defence industrial partnership, a development that came within a week of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s India trip.

The Bangladesh Navy on Sunday signed a contract for ‘Made in India’ 800 tonne oceangoing tug with India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilding and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd as part of the line of credit offered by India to its neighbour. The signing coincided with the visit of India’s chief of naval staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi to Bangladesh.

A few weeks ago, GRSE had signed another contract with Bangladesh for delivery of a trailing suction hopper (TSH) dredger.


The tug's primary roles will include towing of ships at sea, both alongside and astern, assist them during berthing and casting off as well as help them in turning through pushing and pulling. The vessel will also have the capability to carry out rescue and salvage operations at sea, according to a statement by GRSE.

“Its secondary roles will be to provide firefighting support to ships at sea and limited pollution control measures,” the state-run company said. “The platform will be extremely robust with a capability to operate even at sea state 5 (wind speeds of 17-21 knots and wave heights of 2-3 metres) with dynamic positioning - 2 system capability. This is an advanced computer-controlled system that allows a ship to maintain its heading and position without the use of mooring lines or anchors.”

During Hasina’s visit on June 21-22, India and Bangladesh had agreed to bolster their defence relationship and signed agreements for expanding cooperation in maritime security, ocean economy, and space and telecommunication sectors. On the occasion PM Narendra Modi welcomed Bangladesh’s decision to join his Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

The defence services of India and Bangladesh are also participating in joint exercises, medical assistance and training programmes. Counterterrorism cooperation is an important aspect of the defence partnership.