Exercise Shomudro Torongo arrives today

Exercise Shomudro Torongo (TAURUS 09), the routine deployment of the British Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Group, arrives in the Bay of Bengal today to conduct a wide range of activities.
The activities will include a five-day joint collaborative training operation and exercising amphibious and anti-submarine warfare drills with the Bangladesh Navy.
Exercise Shomudro Torongo, the name given to the Bangladesh element of the deployment, aims to maintain the Royal Navy's fighting capability as well as develop the UK's capacity to operate with key partners and other nations' enhanced interoperability.
“It also demonstrates the UK's commitments to the stability and security of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and South East Asia,” said a British High Commission release.
Lt Col Philip Spicer, defence adviser at the British High Commission in Dhaka, said, “This deployment will provide a unique opportunity for some joint collaborative exercises between the Bangladesh Navy and their UK counterparts, the first such interaction in more than a decade.
“But, more than this, it also renews a deep-rooted historical tie and furthers the defence engagement between our two nations”, he said.
The taskforce comprises ships, although only two will participate in training with the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard.