New Delhi : Chief of Naval Staff of the Bangladesh Navy, Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed, called on Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in national capital New Delhi on Monday.
Admiral Ahmed is on a three-day official visit to India from August 28 to August 30 to consolidate bilateral naval relations between India and Bangladesh and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation.
Admiral Ahmed will hold bilateral discussions with his Indian counterpart Admiral Sunil Lanba and other senior officials of the Indian Navy today.
Admiral Ahmed is also scheduled to meet Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra.
In addition to New Delhi, the Admiral is also scheduled to proceed to Visakhapatnam where he will be visiting various naval establishments, including INS Kalinga, INS Karna and INS Satavahana.
Naval cooperation between India and Bangladesh has been traditionally strong, encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through training, port calls, passage exercises along with capability building and capacity augmentation initiatives.
The Bangladesh Navy is also the present Chair of the Indian Ocean Symposium (IONS), which is a Multilateral Maritime Cooperation platform launched by the Indian Navy.
The Bangladesh Navy is also scheduled to conduct an International Multilateral Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise titled IMMSAREX in November 2017, which is being held under the IONS construct. (ANI)