India, B'desh officials hold talks ahead of Hasina visit to India

NEW DELHI: Ahead of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Shantiniketan in West Bengal later this month, India and Bangladesh on Wednesday finalised the framework agreement to implement the Line of Credit (LoC) worth 500 million dollars given by New Delhi last year for defence equipment needs of Dhaka.

A high-level delegation of Bangladesh, headed by Lt-General Mahafuz Rahaman, Principal Staff Officer of Bangladesh Army, held discussions with Indian delegation, led by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra. The two sides also inked two other agreements relating to Khulna Naval shipyard in Bangladesh and defence school exchange programme. It was the first ever two-day defence cooperation dialogue between the two neighbours.

During the visit of Sheikh Hasina to India in April last year, the two countries had signed a MoU on defence cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Line of Credit for the acquisition of defence equipment from India. The two Prime Ministers are also scheduled to meet at Shantiniketan in West Bengal on May 25-26.

The defence cooperation dialogue was aimed at working out the modalities for the purchase of defence equipment from India in the coming months based on the needs of Bangladesh where China has increased its influence in the recent past, particularly in infrastructure and defence sectors. China has also agreed to supply two submarines to Bangladesh Navy.