Navy chief on 4-day B'desh visit to boost maritime ties

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh will undertake a four-day visit to Bangladesh from Saturday in order to boost and consolidate bilateral maritime ties between the two countries.

Admiral Singh is scheduled to meet his Bangladeshi counterpart Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury and other senior government officials during the course of his visit that will end on September 24, Navy officials said on Saturday.

Admiral Singh will address cadets at the Bangladesh Naval Academy apart from participating in the first anniversary celebration of Bangladesh Institute of Maritime Research and Development. He will also be taken on a guided tour of the Khulna Shipyard Limited and the Bangladeshi Naval bases in Chattogram and Khulna.

Bangladesh, being a littoral state of the Indian Ocean region, is a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. The two navies regularly through staff talks, annual defence dialogue and other operational interactions which includes port visits, passage exercises, training, ship design and ship building cooperation.

Serving and retired officers of the Indian Navy also take part in Victory Day Celebrations held in Bangladesh to commemorate the aLiberation War' of 1971.IANS