India- Bangladesh Navies to participate in maiden bilateral drill at Visakhapatnam

Navies of India and Bangladesh will participate for the first time in a IN-BN Bilateral Exercise at Visakhapatnam from 12 to 16 October 2019. This exercise which takes place a week after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, will entail development of mutual communication and sharing of best practices, thus adding a new dimension to India- Bangladesh maritime relations.

About India-Bangladesh maiden Bilateral Navy Exercise

The maiden edition of IN-BN Bilateral Exercise will be held after the second edition of Indian Navy (IN) and Bangladesh Navy (BN) Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT). The first edition of CORPAT commenced in 2018.

Objective: To develop mutual communication and sharing best practices between the two navies.

The exercise would include air familiarisation of Bangladesh Navy aircrew and a 10-day training exercise between Indian Navy Marine Commandos and Bangladesh Navy SWADS (or Special Warfare Diving and Salvage, an elite special operations unit of Bangladesh Navy).

About IN-BN CORPAT 2019

The two-day IN-BN CORPAT 2019 that commenced in northern part of Bay of Bengal, is aimed towards upgrading to a bilateral exercise with navies of both countries engaging in seamanship evolutions, flying exercises with integral helicopters as well as maritime patrol aircraft at sea. During the current edition of CORPAT, the navies of both countries aim to practice and hone their mutual cooperation whilst patrolling near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

Participants in CORPAT: In the bilateral exercise, Indian Navy’s guided-missile destroyer Indian Naval Ship INS Ranvijay and ingeniously built missile Corvette INS Kuthar are participating along with Bangladesh’s BNS Ali Haider, a Type 053 frigate and BNS Shadinota, a Type 056 stealth guided missile corvette.

NOTE: India and Bangladesh have a common territorial boundary of more than 4000 km and a maritime boundary.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019