Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday lauded the country’s military for standing by the side the people during natural disasters and other crisis. “I believe that our army is now truly the people's army. The armed forces stand beside the people during any disaster and accident and extend their cooperation to them,” she said. The premier was addressing a civic and military gathering at a reception arranged at Senakunja of Dhaka Cantonment on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day 2022. Read more: Bangladesh has changed a lot under Awami League govt: PM Hasina We want peace, not war: Hasina said Bangladesh doesn’t want war against anyone, but instead wants peace and friendly relations with all the countries. “We’ll not fight against anyone. We want peace,” she said. The PM said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had framed the policy of ‘Friendship to All, Malice to None’ (the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy) and this is being followed by her government. On this day during the War of Liberation in 1971, the Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising Army, Navy and Air Force, came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces which accelerated the victory in the Liberation War. Since the independence of the country, this historic day is observed as the Armed Forces Day. She said her government has relentlessly been working for the socio-economic uplift of the common people of the country by keeping the friendly relations with all countries of the world in line with the policy. Bangladesh out of this situation: PM Sheikh Hasina said her government can take ahead the development programmes since a democratic trend continues now, but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic affected the progress of the country. She said the prices of commodities and transport cost soared significantly due to the Ukraine-Russia war and sanctions following the pandemic. “Even then we’ve been trying as much as possible so that our people don’t suffer (from price-hikes of essentials),” she said, adding that they are trying to purchase from every possible source to ease their sufferings.  Read more: Armed Forces Day: PM pays tribute at Shikha Anirban She focused on the ongoing food programmes run by the government to support the poor people amid this crisis. “We’ve been implementing all sorts of steps to improve the life and livelihood of the people,” she added. The PM said Bangladesh was recognised as a role model for development, but the pandemic, war and sanctions have put the country largely into trouble. Economic recession is now seen everywhere including the UK, the US and Europe, she added. “In this situation, our economy still remains vibrant and is moving. But with cooperation from all, we would definitely be able to take it out of this situation (trouble),” said Hasina. She reiterated her call to grow more foods and cultivate every piece of arable land. Focusing on her government’s steps to modernise the armed forces, the premier said she has developed every force and built up every institute so that the Army, Navy and Air Force can move, keeping the pace with the world as the Armed Forces of Bangladesh are working in the United Nations peacekeeping missions. She said the peacekeepers of Bangladesh have been working in the UN missions for 34 years with dedication and pride. Now Bangladesh is the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations, she added. PM’s Security Affairs Adviser Major Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and the chiefs of the three services were present. Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, cabinet members, political leaders, foreign diplomats, leading figures representing different professions, editors, senior civil and military officials and their spouses, among others, attended the reception.

President Abdul Hamid on Monday paid tribute to the martyred members of Armed Forces on the occasion of Armed Forces Day-2022. He placed a wreath at the altar of Shikha Anirban (flame eternal) at Dhaka Cantonment this morning. Read more: Armed Forces Day: PM pays tribute at Shikha Anirban Hamid, also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, stood in solemn silence for some time to show profound respect to the memories of the martyrs members of armed forces, who made supreme sacrifices during the Liberation War.

President M Abdul Hamid on Tuesday witnessed the progress of the construction work of Mithamoin Cantonment in Kishoreganj. Engineer-in-Chief (E-n-C) Major General Md Jubayer Salehin along with some high military officers  welcomed the President on his arrival in project area under Mithamoin upazila of the district,   Later, a brief discussion was held regarding the construction work. The president planted a banyan sapling there. President Hamid, also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, witnessed the 275-acre cantonment area and the Abdul Hamid Polli adjacent to it. Read: President going to home district for four days

In a move aimed at self-reliance in India’s defence manufacturing sector, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday handed over to the armed forces locally developed military hardware including a smart air-launched weapon, anti-drone systems, and an advanced radar countermeasure system, officials familiar with the development said. The weapons and systems were developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. READ:  India bids emotional farewell to military chief Singh also handed over transfer of technology (ToT) agreements covering six systems, including the coastal surveillance radar, to seven public and private sector companies to bolster their defence manufacturing capabilities at an event organised as part of the countrywide celebrations to mark the 75th year of India’s Independence. This comes at a time when a time when the government is encouraging self-reliance is the defence sector through a slew of policy decisions. The notable systems handed over to the armed forces include the smart anti-airfield weapon (SAAW), which can target enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxiways and runways; and counter-drone systems to swiftly detect, intercept, and destroy small drones that pose a security threat. SAAW has a range of 100km. The anti-drone system will give the military both “soft kill” and “hard kill” options to tackle the new and fast-emerging aerial threat, the officials said. The first refers to jamming the hostile drone, while the second involves a laser-based kill system. The drone threat was highlighted by the June 27 attack targeting the Jammu air force station, the first-ever offensive use of drones to hit an Indian military facility. READ:  India orders tri-services probe into military chief's chopper crash The steps taken by the government to boost indigenisation include increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) from 49% to 74%, notifying two lists of 209 weapons and systems that cannot be imported and creating a separate budget for buying locally made military hardware. Singh identified the development of a hypersonic cruise missile as a key focus area.

On the occasion of Bangladesh's Armed Forces Day, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday visited the Bangladesh High Commission  in New Delhi  and paid tribute to 1971 Liberation War heroes.  Record keepers said it was perhaps the first time since Indian independence that a defence minister visited a country’s mission in Delhi to pay tribute to that country’s armed forces.  "On behalf of the Armed Forces of India and the Government of India, I congratulate the Armed Forces of Bangladesh on the 50th anniversary and wish them the very best in their endeavour towards peace and security," he said. The Indian Minister said this year is of "extraordinary significance" for Bangladesh-India relations, as the two countries commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Liberation of Bangladesh, the fifty years of India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangaandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. READ: Rajnath Singh pays tribute to Bangabandhu  "In this momentous time, I salute the valiant struggle of the Muktibahini in the Muktijuddha – War of Liberation - in 1971. Spirit of Muktijuddha forms the core of today’s Armed Forces of Bangladesh," he said. The Indian Minister also paid tribute to the sacrifices made by the brave soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces, who stood steadfast with their Bangladeshi brothers and sisters during the epic War of Liberation of Bangladesh. "On this day, I also remember the extraordinary leadership in India, which rose to the occasion against all odds and limitations in 1971, in support of a struggling nation fighting against the injustice and unspeakable atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistani Army."

President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday paid homage to the martyred members of the Armed Forces on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day 2021. The President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Prime Minister separately placed wreaths at the altar of Shikha Anirban (flame eternal) at Dhaka Cantonment in the morning. They stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of respect to memories of the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice during the War of Liberation in 1971. A smartly-turned out contingent drawn from Army, Navy and Air Force presented a guard of honour at that time, while bugle played the last post. Later, the President and the Prime Minister, also in-charge of the Ministry of Defence, signed the visitor’s book kept on the premises of Shikha Anirban. Earlier on her arrival at Shikha Anirban, the Prime Minister was received by Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Shaikh Abdul Hannan and Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) Lieutenant General Waker-Uz-Zaman. Read: President Hamid calls for taking development benefits to people After the wreath-placing ceremony, the Prime Minister went to the Armed Forces Division (AFD) where PM’s security affairs adviser Major General (rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and chiefs of the three services made a courtesy call on her. Read: President's activities on day 2 of visit to home district On this day in 1971, the Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising Army, Navy and Air Force, came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces which sped up the victory in the Liberation War. Since the independence of the country, this historic day is being observed as the Armed Forces Day every year.

India has decided to give women permanent commission in the military, a landmark decision that could pave the way for female officers to head the armed forces in the future. Currently, women are recruited in the three wings of the military -- the Army, the Navy and the Air Force -- only as short service commission officers. The latest decision of the government to admit women into the National Defence Academy (NDA) for permanent commission into the armed forces was conveyed to the Supreme Court by a top state lawyer on Wednesday, prompting the judges to hail the move. Also Read- Indian military admits wrongdoing in 3 Kashmir killings "I have great news. The service chiefs and government have decided that girls will be given permanent commission through NDA and Naval academy. The decision was taken late last evening," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court. "The policy and procedure are being worked out to enable women to get permanent commission in the three defence forces," he added. Also read: Always stay ready to defend country: Hasina to Armed Forces The apex court lauded the decision. “We have been judging this for a long time. On gender equality, the armed forces have to do more. I'm happy that the heads of the armed forces have taken the decision. Compliment goes to you for persuading them.” "We are extremely glad to know that the armed forces themselves took the decision to induct women into the NDA. We know that reforms cannot happen in a day... The government will place timelines of the process and the course of action," the judges said. "The armed forces play an important role... but need to do more for gender equality in the forces. We want them to take a proactive approach themselves in ensuring gender equality rather than waiting for courts to intervene," the court added. The apex court was hearing a petition for allowing women to take NDA and Naval Academy examinations.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said Bangladesh Armed Forces must have necessary preparedness to protect the country’s independence and sovereignty keeping pace with technological development of the modern world. “We need to have all kinds of preparedness, equipment and training to protect our country from the attack of outside enemies,” she said. The Prime Minister said this while addressing the Selection Board Meeting of Bangladesh Navy and Air Force at Dhaka Cantonment. Read: Bangladesh-New Zealand T20 series: PM greets Tigers for going 2-0 up She joined the meeting at the headquarters of the Navy and Air Force through a videoconference from her official residence Ganobhaban. Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh never wants war with any country, rather it wants peace as no country can achieve desired development without peace as war only brings destruction. “We don’t want to go down the path of destruction. But if anyone attacks us, we have to make all kinds of preparations to protect our country,” she said. Hasina said the government is building the armed forces in such a way so that it can protect the country’s independence and sovereignty.

China will not allow itself to be bullied and anyone who tries will face “broken heads and bloodshed in front of the iron Great Wall of the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” President Xi Jinping said at a mass gathering Thursday to mark the centenary of the ruling Communist Party. Wearing a grey buttoned-up suit of the type worn by Mao Zedong, Xi spoke from the balcony of Tiananmen Gate, emphasizing the party’s role in bringing China to global prominence and saying it would never be divided from the people. Xi, who is head of the party and leader of the world’s largest armed forces also said China had restored order in Hong Kong following antigovernment protests in the semi-autonomous city in 2019 and reiterated Beijing’s determination to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control. He received the biggest applause, however, when he described the party as the force that had restored China’s dignity and turned it into the world’s second largest economy since taking power amid civil war in 1949. Read: At 100, China’s Communist Party looks to cement its future “The Chinese people are a people with a strong sense of pride and self-confidence,” Xi said. “We have never bullied, oppressed or enslaved the people of another nation, not in the past, during the present or in the future.” “At the same time, the Chinese people will absolutely not allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or enslave us and anyone who attempts to do so will face broken heads and bloodshed in front of the iron Great Wall of the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Xi said. Xi’s comments come as China is enmeshed in a deepening rivalry with the United States for global power status and has clashed with India along their disputed border. China also claims unpopulated islands held by Japan and almost the entire South China Sea, and it threatens to invade Taiwan, with which the U.S. has boosted relations and military sales. Beijing also faces criticism that it is guilty of abusing its power at home, including detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs and and other Muslim minorities for political reeducation in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, and for imprisoning or intimidating into silence those it sees as potential opponents from Tibet to Hong Kong. Thursday’s events are the climax of weeks of ceremonies and displays praising the role of the Communist Party in bringing vast improvements in quality of life at home and restoring China’s economic, political and military influence abroad. Those improvements coupled with harshly repressing opponents have helped the party hold power despite its 92 million members accounting for just over 6% of China’s population. While the progress dates mainly from economic reforms enacted by Deng Xiaoping four decades ago, the celebrations spotlight the role of Xi, who has established himself as China’s most powerful leader since Mao. Xi mentioned the contributions of past leaders in his address, but his claims to have attained breakthroughs in poverty alleviation and economic progress while raising China’s global profile and standing up to the West were front and center. Xi, 68, has eliminated limits on his time in office and is expected to begin a third five-year term as party leader next year. In seeking to capture more gains for the party on the world stage, Xi is setting up China for a protracted struggle with the U.S., said Robert Sutter of George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs. “In foreign affairs it involves growth of wealth and power, with China unencumbered as it pursues its very self-centered policy goals at the expense of others and of the prevailing world order,” Sutter said. While the party faces no serious challenges to its rule, the legitimacy of its rule has been undercut by past disasters such as the mass famine of the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Cultural Revolution’s violent class warfare and xenophobia, and the 1989 bloodshed at Tiananmen Square. Read:India cranking up border infrastructure to narrow gap with China The party’s official narrative glosses over past mistakes or current controversies, emphasizing development, stability and efficiency — including its success in controlling COVID-19 at home — in contrast to what it portrays as political bickering, bungling of pandemic control measures and social strife in multiparty democracies. Xi’s comments Thursday on bullying, oppression and enslavement will elicit historical memories among Chinese of the the 19th century Opium Wars that led to foreign nations gaining special legal and economic privileges in China, as well as Japan’s brutal invasion and occupation of much of the country during the 1930s and 1940s. Xi said those experiences had made the party’s rise to power inevitable as the only force truly able to rid China of foreign meddling and restore its global stature. “History and the people chose the Communist Party,” Xi said. Xi said the party would retain absolute control over its military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, which now has the world’s second-largest annual budget after the U.S. armed forces and has been adding aircraft carriers and sophisticated new aircraft, showcased in a flyover at the start of the ceremony featuring a squadron of China’s J-20 stealth fighters. “We will turn the people’s military into a world-class military, with even stronger capabilities and even more reliable means to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Xi said. Thursday’s rally recalled the mass events at which Mao would greet hundreds of thousands of Red Guards in Tiananmen Square during the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, a time many older Chinese would prefer to forget. Yet it also portrayed a people strongly united behind the ruling party and its leader. “After several generations of leaders, including President Xi, now (China) is advancing courageously and relentlessly on the path of socialism. So I think the Communist Party will be able to carry on for a thousand years, ten thousand years,” said Beijing resident Yang Shaocheng. Events are being held across the country, including in Hong Kong, which is simultaneously holding commemorations of its 1997 handover from British to Chinese control. Read:China's comical picture 'The Last G-7' raps Japan's Fukushima water China has cracked down hard on freedom of speech and political opposition in the territory, while rejecting all outside criticism and sanctions imposed on its leaders. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam was among officials seated on Tiananmen Gate, while her deputy defended the national security law imposed by Beijing last year and said it would be used further in the coming year to ensure stability. Since its implementation, large-scale demonstrations have been banned and a number of pro-democracy activists and journalists have been arrested, ceased public activities or left Hong Kong. Despite the protest ban, a group of activists marched through part of Hong Kong on Thursday carrying a banner that called for the release of political prisoners.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday reaffirmed that the country's armed forces will be provided with more modern equipment and technologies as ensuring top quality modernised force is very important.