Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma on Sunday identified defence industry cooperation between Bangladesh and India as an emerging focus area of their defence partnership. 

Speaking at a seminar on Indian defence equipment, he highlighted the accomplishments of the Indian defence industry over the last nearly a decade driven by their Prime Minister’s vision of “Make in India, Make for the World”. 

The High Commissioner invited Bangladesh Armed Forces to benefit from India’s cost-effective and high quality defence equipment and technology, and also proposed joint development and production.

He expressed India’s readiness to partner with Bangladesh in its defence modernization through the US$ 500 million Defence Line of Credit extended by the Government of India to the Government of Bangladesh, and urged the defence industry on both sides to take full advantage of this arrangement.

High Commission of India organized the seminar on Indian Defence Equipment (SIDE) in Dhaka as part of the initiative to promote defence industry cooperation between India and Bangladesh.

High Commissioner Pranay Verma and the Chief of General Staff (CGS) of Bangladesh Army, Lt. Gen. Ata-ul Hakim Sarwar Hasan made keynote remarks.

Several key Indian defence manufacturers, from both public and private sectors, participated and made presentations on their defence products and platforms.

Representatives from Bangladesh Armed Forces, para-military forces as well as law enforcement agencies were present.

Bangladesh CGS Lt. Gen. Hasan praised India’s defence manufacturing capabilities and proposed closer cooperation between the two sides for closer defence industry partnership, according to Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

Bangladesh and India have close and friendly defence relationship that covers diverse areas of cooperation and is guided by the spirit of their shared sacrifices during the Liberation War of 1971.