Bangladesh, India sign 1st contract under $500m defence LoC

Bangladesh and India have taken the "important first step" to operationalise the 500-million-dollar line of credit for purchase of defence items which New Delhi had announced five years ago.

The first step came when the two countries signed earlier this week the first contract of a "modest amount" to operationalise the line of credit for purchasing defence items, which was announced during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official visit to India in October of 2017, report our New Delhi correspondent.

Replying to a question, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told the media in New Delhi on Tuesday (September 6, 2022) "I think the first contract under the defence LoC was signed earlier this week. I'm sure you have been following this closely. It was a modest amount but it was an important first step."

"It may be defence LoC, but it's also a part of development partnership framework. It also has a landing under the security and the strategic cooperation," Kwatra said.

He said India's "effort is that this will open up path for further engagement between the two countries in the field of defence, in the field of security and take our cooperation further."

When the defence LoC was signed in 2017, it broke new grounds in burgeoning strategic cooperation between Bangladesh and India.